Missing 8-year-old girl found dead in hotel pool after being sucked into pipe
An 8-year-old girl who went missing was tragically found dead in a hotel swimming pool after being pulled into one of the pipes.
Aliyah Jaico was enjoying a swim with her family in a lazy river-style pool at a DoubleTree Hotel near downtown Houston, Texas, as reported by police. She was reported missing around 5:45 pm on Saturday.
According to Houston police homicide division detectives M Castillo and J Diaz, Aliyah was later discovered inside a large pipe in the pool area and pronounced deceased by paramedics around 11:30 pm the same day.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science identified Aliyah, attributing her preliminary cause of death to 'drowning and mechanical asphyxia,' believed to be accidental pending official autopsy results.
CCTV footage retrieved by a search crew revealed Aliyah going underwater without resurfacing. Her body was found after the pool was drained, and a camera was used about 20 feet into one of the pipes, as reported by KTRK.
Following a new pool inspection by the city health department, several violations were uncovered, including undocumented channel drains measuring 32 inches on the pool walls. Other issues involved a ladder missing threads and problems with pool doors and gates.
Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch, who aided in the search, mentioned, "It appears right now the pump was put in there, and it was probably malfunctioning because of the open pipe that she ended up in was supposed to be pushing water out."
The hotel's location is on the 12000 block of Northwest Freeway, approximately 14 miles from downtown Houston.
Aliyah's tragic death comes just over a year after a 5-year-old boy drowned in a pool at his family's home in Katy, Texas, during New Year's Day celebrations. Anyone with information about her drowning is urged to contact the police department.
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