An 8-year-old girl was found dead in a pool pipe at a DoubleTree Hotel near downtown Houston, Texas (Picture: ABC13)
An 8-year-old girl who went missing was found dead in a hotel swimming pool after being pulled into one of the pipes.
Aliyah Jaico was swimming with her family members in a lazy river-style pool at a DoubleTree Hotel near downtown Houston, Texas, police said. She was reported missing around 5.45pm on Saturday.
‘She was later found inside a large pipe in the pool area and pronounced deceased by paramedics’ around 11.30pm the same day, according to Houston police homicide division detectives M Castillo and J Diaz on Monday.
Aliyah was identified by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science. Her preliminary cause of death was ‘drowning and mechanical asphyxia’ and it is believed to have been accidental, the office stated. Her official cause and manner of death are pending her autopsy results.
The victim has been identified as 8-year-old Aliyah Jaico (Picture: Facebook)
A search crew recovered CCTV that showed Aliyah going underwater and not coming back up to the surface. Her body was discovered after the crew drained the pool and utilized a camera about 20 feet into one of the pipes of the pool, KTRK reported.
The city health department on Monday disclosed a new pool inspection which revealed several violations including channel drains measuring 32 inches on the pool walls that were not properly documented. In addition, a ladder did not have all the threads and there were also issues with the pool doors and gates.
“(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,’ Texas EquuSearch Tim Miller, who was contacted to help search for the girl, told the TV station.
A Houston girl died after being sucked into pipe in a DoubleTree Hotel swimming pool (Picture: DoubleTree by Hilton)
‘We put them poles in there almost 20 feet, and we saw her little hand and part of her body, so we got the fire department back out there.’
The pool has been shuttered indefinitely.
An investigation into Aliyah’s death continues.
Aliyah Jaico was swimming with other family members when she disappeared (Picture: Facebook)
Anyone with information on her drowning is urged to contact the police department.
The hotel is located on the 12000 block of Northwest Freeway about 14 miles from the downtown.
Aliyah’s death comes just over a year after a 5-year-old boy drowned in a pool at his family’s home in Katy, Texas, as they celebrated New Year’s Day.
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