New York police say an 11-year-old girl with special needs died after being left in a hot SUV following a shopping trip with her family Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities believe that the unidentified girl was accidentally left inside of the family’s Ford Expedition after returning to their Coram, Long Island, home with her mother and two siblings, the New York Post reports.

“After returning home, the girl’s mother went inside believing all of the children were out of the car,” Suffolk County Police reportedly said through a statement. “Sometime later, the mother could not locate the 11-year-old girl and checked inside of the car where she found the girl. The mother carried the 11-year-old girl inside the house and called 911.”

CPR was performed on the child at approximately 3:45 p.m., according to officials, who said she was later pronounced dead at Stony Brook Hospital. Temperatures reached 92 degrees in Coram on Tuesday.

“It’s a tragedy,” Lt. Kevin Beyrer said. “It’s similar to a drowning. It’s something that doesn’t happen every day. It’s an unspeakable tragedy.”

Neighbors, one who said the little girl was non-verbal, described the victim as a “sweetheart” to the New York Post, adding that her parents are the “nicest people you would ever know.”

“Sweetheart, absolute angel. Just the sweetest little baby girl,” neighbor Carmela Parlato said.

Another neighbor, Dona Heester, said the family’s home is “armed with cameras,” adding that the mother “knows everything that goes on for her family, inside and outside.”

“She was a very attentive mother. She was on her children like a hawk – you wouldn’t find a better set of parents.”

[Feature photo: Wiki Commons/]