A California toddler’s mom and grandparents broke into her father’s car this week when they found the little girl locked inside with the windows rolled up as temperatures soared into the lower 100s.

Jose Ladel Woodcook Serna, 24, failed to bring little Meadow home at the end of a court-ordered, two-hour visitation on August 4, investigators said, so the family went to his house to retrieve her.

“We walked up to the door and her grandfather, and Summer, the mom, knocked on the door for a while with him not responding or opening the door,” the child’s grandmother, Tiffany DiGiuseppe, told KRCR. “I went to get out of my car and saw a little twinkle — a vague sparkle out of the side peripheral vision.”

DiGiuseppe said the grandfather went to Serna’s car, put his face to the window, and saw little Meadow inside. The entire family began pounding on the car windows until the grandfather brought a tool out of his truck and smashed the window.

“We pulled her out and she was very incoherent — it was just disgusting, to say the least,” DiGiuseppe said.

“She definitely was unresponsive,” she added. “Her eyes were barely opened, she was bright red, her heart rate was off the charts, she could not lift her head and she could not move her limbs.”

According to Redding Police, Serna never came outside and refused to respond to police when they arrived, speaking only with dispatchers over the phone. Officers took him into custody the next day after obtaining a warrant for his arrest on a child abuse charge.

He was released after arraignment this week but was barred from visiting the child and required to wear a GPS device. He is expected back in court on August 30.

DiGiuseppe said the toddler is still recovering from the incident.

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[Featured image: Meadow/Facebook]