A two-year-old boy died in Volusia County on Saturday evening in an apparent accidental drowning.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 20, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a 10-acre property located on Flowing Creek Way in the Osteen area. According to the sheriff’s office, the toddler’s parents had called 911 to report their son missing.
When deputies arrived on scene, they assisted the parents in an interior and exterior search of the property. At around 6:15 p.m., the toddler’s mother noticed that one of the family’s dogs was wet, and another dog was barking near the bank of a retention canal.
The mother rushed to the bank of the canal, where she saw her son in the water. With the help of a neighbor, the mother brought her son to the bank, and deputies immediately began CPR.
“Due to the terrain and distance from a main road, deputies transported (the toddler) in a patrol vehicle while continuing life-saving measures until meeting emergency medical personnel at Osteen Maytown Road,” stated the sheriff’s office in a social media post on Sunday morning.
The toddler was then rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 7:04 p.m.
According to VCSO, an investigation has revealed that the toddler was playing in a fenced backyard with the dogs while his mother kept the back door open to check on him regularly. While the boy was playing, he managed to open a gate, and he walked around 300 feet to a canal that was obstructed from view by trees and brush.
The sheriff’s office further stated that it “sends sincere condolences to the family, and to all who responded to the call in the hopes of a different outcome.”