Authorities: 2-year-old boy drowns in Thurston County lake
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YELM, Wash. - A 2-year-old boy drowned Saturday morning in a popular lake near the Thurston County community of Yelm, officials said.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene, in the 17000 block of Overlake Court SE, at about 10:15 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a drowning. But despite the efforts of the toddler's father and medics, he could not revived.
"The parents were holding the child, saying goodbye," said Sgt. Alvin Griffin of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. "He (the father) carried the child back to the house and gave it to the mother to say goodbye. It's a tough day."
An investigation found that the 2-year-old boy was playing with his older brother and cousin near the gated Clearwood community and wandered off, Griffin said.
About 10 minutes later, the little boy's parents realized he was missing and went looking for him. It was his mother who found him in the waters of Horseshoe Lake and pulled him out. But it was too late.
Linda Azzerella, a nearby neighbor, says she heard screams coming from the lake shore.
"I just had a sense that something was wrong," she says. "Our children are our priority here, and now that we hear one of our children has drowned - it's going to resonate through our neighborhood for quite a while."
Griffin says the parents are devastated.
The names of the little boy and his family were not released.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene, in the 17000 block of Overlake Court SE, at about 10:15 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a drowning. But despite the efforts of the toddler's father and medics, he could not revived.
"The parents were holding the child, saying goodbye," said Sgt. Alvin Griffin of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. "He (the father) carried the child back to the house and gave it to the mother to say goodbye. It's a tough day."
An investigation found that the 2-year-old boy was playing with his older brother and cousin near the gated Clearwood community and wandered off, Griffin said.
About 10 minutes later, the little boy's parents realized he was missing and went looking for him. It was his mother who found him in the waters of Horseshoe Lake and pulled him out. But it was too late.
Linda Azzerella, a nearby neighbor, says she heard screams coming from the lake shore.
"I just had a sense that something was wrong," she says. "Our children are our priority here, and now that we hear one of our children has drowned - it's going to resonate through our neighborhood for quite a while."
Griffin says the parents are devastated.
The names of the little boy and his family were not released.
