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2 toddlers drown in Belle Glade pool

Boys, ages 2 and 3, wander away from home while being watched by grandmother
Toddlers who drowned in Belle Glade pool
Posted at 4:42 PM, Oct 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-28 08:14:12-04

BELLE GLADE, Fla. — Two young boys drowned Wednesday afternoon at a residence in Belle Glade, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said the drowning occurred just after 1:15 p.m. at a home located in the 600 block of Northeast Second Street.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said the two boys, ages 2 and 3, were being watched by their grandmother when they wandered from a house she routinely cleans.

Detectives said the boys were playing in the screened patio in the backyard when the grandmother noticed they were no longer there and began searching for them.

After searching for the children for 30 minutes, the grandmother notified deputies that the boys were missing.

"They came from down there, one street over, and I guess they wanted the pool," Leonard Williams, who claimed to be the toddlers' great uncle, told WPTV. "I got a call, 'The two boys, we don't know where they are at,' and the police started looking. They had the helicopter."

Detectives arrived at the scene and began to search for the children. Deputies in the air spotted the boys in a nearby pool.

The children were removed from the pool and first responders performed CPR. The boys were taken to Lakeside Medical Center, where they were both pronounced dead.

Barbera said the investigation into the drowning is in the preliminary stages.