FIVE HOURS IN HOT SUV KILLS 2 PRESCHOOLERS.

Byline: Greg Botonis and Troy Anderson Staff Writers

LANCASTER - Two young boys died Tuesday, left unattended for more than five hours in 100-degree heat in a locked Cadillac Escalade parked outside the day care center their foster mother owns, authorities said.

The foster mother told homicide detectives she arrived at A Children's Place between 8:30 and 9 a.m., and thought somebody else had brought the boys, ages 3 and 5, in to play for the day.

``She indicated she thought someone else was going to get the children out of the car, possibly her husband,'' said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefend. ``There was some miscommunication.''

The woman discovered the boys about 2 p.m., when she returned to her locked SUV, Grotefend said.

Frantic, she pulled the children out of the car to a patio area. The 5-year-old had died; a day care worker attempted to revive the younger child, who was pronounced dead later at Antelope Valley Hospital.

The boys had been strapped into car seats, although Grotefend speculated that the 5-year-old might have gotten out of his seat but was unable to work the childproof locks in the SUV.

The temperature in Lancaster hit 103 on Tuesday, which means it could have reached 120 degrees inside the vehicle, officials said.

``Sadly this happens, if not here, somewhere in the county at the start of every summer,'' Deputy Mark Round said. ``People forget just how hot it gets in closed vehicles and how fast this can happen.''

The silver Escalade was registered to Leslie Sue Smoot of Lancaster. Friends and parents who gathered said she owned the 24-hour day care center.

One man who identified himself only as a close family friend said Smoot had two grown children of her own and had cared for foster children for more than 20 years.

The man said Smoot bought the Escalade because she wanted extra room to take her foster children and others she cared for to church.

Department of Children and Family Services Director David Sanders confirmed that the two dead boys were foster children.

``The air went out of me when I heard this,'' Sanders said. ``It's an absolute tragedy. It's hard to express the sorrow about this. It's just horrible.''

Sanders said the DCFS will investigate the deaths.

``The idea of two children who appear to have died completely needlessly is just terribly tragic,'' Sanders said.

Sheriff Lee Baca said it's inconceivable that a foster parent or guardian would leave children in a vehicle unattended.

``Vehicles are not playpens,'' Baca said. ``Vehicles are not baby sitters. And vehicles, when they are not properly ventilated, are death traps.

``Whoever did this will be arrested and charged with child endangerment and, conceivably, charged with manslaughter, at a minimum.''

The 2000 SUV remained parked outside the school as parents, who were notified to come and pick up their children, arrived to take them home. Sheriff's deputies shielded the panicked parents from the gathering crowd.

Round said these were the first heat-related deaths in a vehicle that he could recall in the High Desert community.

A California nonprofit children's advocacy group, 4 R Kids' Sake, reported that 30 children died last year after being left in cars.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

Greg.Botonis(at)dailynews.com