Isaiah Theis (Photo: Polk County Sheriff’s Department)
Officials in Polk County have released the preliminary results of an autopsy performed on the toddler found dead this week in the trunk of a vehicle.
Sheriff Pete Johnson says the medical examiner’s report indicates that two-year-old Isaiah Theis died from hyperthermia, which is a large spike in his body heat. The report listed no other indications of harm to the boy and found that he had no life-threatening injuries or bone fractures.
AUDIO: Sheriff Pete Johnson (1:11)
Police have still not said how Theis ended up in the trunk of the car, which was parked at his father’s auto-repair shop near the family’s home in Centuria. Johnson says the case remains under investigation.
Theis was missing for more than a day, as more than 2,000 volunteers searched for him in sweltering 90 degree heat. An officer found his body in the trunk of the car Wednesday night when the owner of the vehicle came to pick it up. Police have said they did not force their way in to the locked car because they were operating under the belief that the boy had just wandered away from home and had no reason to suspect he was inside.
WXCE’s Kurt Mayer contributed to this report.