"I understand the boy has been found by a family member and paramedics were called and obviously there were attempts made to try and revive the child."
Inspector Irwin said homicide squad detectives would oversee the investigation, and called the incident an "absolute tragedy".
"We're devastated," he said, according to the Herald Sun.
"[The family are] devastated, absolutely devastated and we're still trying to track some family members down to actually notify them."
The newspaper also revealed that officers had to break through the back window of the car to reach the young boy.
Neighbours of the house the baby boy was found outside said the residency doubled as a childcare centre, the ABC reported.
Homicide detectives have been called into the investigation but this is "common procedure", according to police.
The tragedy follows the similar death of a toddler in Wanganui last month. In that case, the boy's mother accidentally left him in her car when she went into work.
Ambulance Victoria would not comment on the latest case, but has issued repeated warnings against leaving children in cars.
In the first five weeks of the year, paramedics were called to 200 cases.
Most recently, a young girl had to be rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital after being locked in a hot vehicle at Maribyrnong, 4km west of Melbourne, for just half an hour after her mother couldn't open the doors.
"The girl was sweating profusely and her clothes were drenched, so there was certainly potential for it to quickly become life threatening,' advanced life support paramedic Ben Dalton said.
"The MFB smashed a window to get the girl out of the car."
Mr Dalton said two children have died in the last few years after being left in hot cars in Victoria, and it's frustrating the message is not getting through.
"Children can't regulate their body temperature like adults can, which puts them at significant risk,' he said.
"It's never okay to leave a child locked in a car, even for a minute or two."
The state government said it will increase penalties for leaving children in hot cars, with fines and jail time increased from three months to six months.
- Daily Mail
