An 8-year-old boy who drowned in a stranger’s pool in Fort Lauderdale was only discovered when the owner of the home woke up from a nap, according to police and newly released 911 calls. The same evening he died, a 5-year-old boy was pronounced dead after wandering away and drowning in a pool at an apartment complex in Delray Beach.
Both pools belonged to properties where the boys did not live, prompting questions over how they were able to get in and why. Most drownings occur when children are not supposed to be swimming or near water, officials say. Nationally, drownings have increased significantly for the last several years since the pandemic began, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the highest rates among young children.
The 8-year-old boy died at the hospital Monday evening after police dove into the pool at the home on Northwest Fourth Avenue and tried to save his life. The homeowner told police that he didn’t know the boy and had never seen a child wander onto his property before.
“I just woke up, looked outside and saw some little shoes by my pool,” the man told the call-taker. “And there’s a little kid at the bottom of my pool.”
The boy was at the bottom, face-down, the man said, and naked, his clothes left by the gate.
About two minutes into the call, police sirens could be heard arriving at the home, but they were too late. It is unclear how long the boy had been in the pool before the homeowner discovered him. Fort Lauderdale Police are investigating to try to determine how the boy ended up there.
The boy’s brother told WPLG-Ch.10 that he had been under the care of a nanny while his mother was working. Only recently, the two had discussed swimming, and the boy told his brother he could swim.
The same evening as the 8-year-old boy’s death, a 5-year-old boy died, six days after being found in a private pool in Delray Beach, according to a police news release issued Wednesday.
The boy had autism and had wandered a few blocks away from home last Wednesday, where his grandmother was watching him, Delray Beach Police said in the release. Officers and Fire Rescue responded to find the boy in a pool on Southeast Seventh Avenue.
Police spokesperson Ted White said the pool was at an apartment complex, enclosed by a gate. But the boy “walked through the front.”
“I don’t know if it was open or unlocked or what the scenario was, but he was able to get in,” White said.
Between 2018 and 2020, Florida ranked first in the U.S. for unintentional child drownings under age 9, according to the state department of health.
Already this year, 46 children have died by drowning in Florida, according to Lt. Gov Jeanette Núñez, who held a news conference on child drownings Wednesday. Some of the most important steps she listed in preventing drownings include making sure children are supervised near bodies of water and making sure barriers and gates surrounding pools meet state requirements.
Following a prolonged decline, drownings increased nationally in 2020, according to a new report from the CDC. Pools closed and a lifeguard shortage has left many areas unsupervised. In 2021 and 2022, drownings remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. The report did not have 2023 data.
The vast majority of child drownings occur when children are not supposed to be swimming.
In 2024, 35 of the 46 fatal drownings happened when the child “was not supposed to even be in or around water,” Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris said at the news conference. “This is a stark reminder that we cannot let our guards down just because we are done swimming for the day.”
Both Delray and Fort Lauderdale police detectives are actively investigating the drownings. Anyone with information on either case should contact police.