A sheriff's deputy in Perry County Mississippi forgot he left a three-year-old Belgian Malinois police dog in his patrol vehicle and arrived the next morning to find it dead. Local TV station WLOX reports:

The cause of the death was never determined. Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith said it could have been heat exhaustion or a heart attack. An official funeral was held for the animal.

"It's very unfortunate that a necropsy wasn't performed because that leaves everyone with the assumption that it was from heat exhaustion or heat stroke when in fact it may possibly be from something else."

After the incident Verret was reassigned to another position. Attempts to reach Sheriff Smith Friday for comment were unsuccessful.