Police say the two children, a 1-year-old girl and a 6-month-old boy, were left unattended while their guardian was shopping.

"That's just way too young for children to be left on their own, no matter what the temperature,” said Officer Grant Story, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.

The windows were cracked a few inches. The passerby called 911.

"We had two young children who were definitely sweating. They were inside the vehicle and the officer described it as frantic the way they were acting. They were frightened that no one was around, so we took the kids to the hospital so they could get checked out, that they were okay,” said Story.

The store manager says an emergency dispatcher called her to ask her to page the shopper who belonged to the car. The manager says it was a woman who had several children with her inside the store.

Police say the babies in the car belonged to that woman's friend.

"Our officer walked up, put his hand through the window and unlocked the door, took the children out, for their well being. What if that had not been an officer? What if it had been somebody who wanted to kidnap the children? It would have been very easy for them to do so,” said Story.

Police say the state Children's Division took the babies into custody, at least until police can speak with the mother, who they say was at work all day.

The woman watching them was not arrested. Police say that would happen only if they believe the woman would flee to avoid possible charges. Those would come from the Greene County prosecuting attorney’s office, which will receive the police report when it's completed.