Children's Safety Zone

An ex-pitcher for the Chicago Cubs drowned at Bartlett Lake northeast of Phoenix Sunday, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said.

The body of Frank Castillo, 44, was pulled from the water at 2:26 p.m. Monday after a jet skier saw it floating.

Castillo played for the Chicago Cubs from 1991 to 1997, the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Tigers, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox and the Florida Marlins.

The Red Sox held a moment of silence for Castillo before Monday night’s game against Tampa Bay.

Sheriff’s deputies said Castillo and one of his friends had rented a pontoon boat just before 2:30 p.m. Sunday and had been on the lake for only about an hour when the ex-ballplayer got into the water to go swimming.

A short time later the friend noticed the victim had not resurfaced and called 911.

MCSO’s dive team searched for about two hours, but due to limited visibility and lighting conditions, scrubbed the operation until daylight.  

The dive team re-entered the water at about 8 a.m. Monday in what they classified as a recovery operation. Castillo’s body was discovered some 6 1/2 hours later.

The sheriff’s office said water in the area was about 25 feet deep and divers only had three-foot visibility.

Bartlett Lake is about 17 miles northeast of Carefree.

A 2-year-old girl went under water at a pool in Peoria over the Labor Day weekend and a neighbor is being credited for helping save her.

Peoria police spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto said a call came in early Monday night that a 2-year-old had been under the water in the pool for an unknown amount of time at a home near 79th Avenue and Greenway Road.

A neighbor performed CPR and the girl was breathing by the time emergency crews arrived.

She was conscious and crying when she was taken to an area hospital.

A 4-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after his 10-year-old cousin pulled him from a backyard pool Monday afternoon.

Avondale Fire Department officials say the boy was found around 1:45 p.m. at the bottom of a pool near 115th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.

Officials say the boy’s 10-year-old cousin jumped in the pool and pulled the boy out. CPR was performed on the boy until he started breathing again.

He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in stable condition, officials at the scene said.

Authorities were called to the scene of two emergencies at Lake Pleasant Saturday afternoon.

In the first incident, a California man was injured trying to help his daughter.

According to a Peoria Fire Department spokeswoman, an inner tube was attached to a boat and the inner tube started to blow off the boat.

Amanda Jacinto said the girl got her arm stuck in the rope and her father tried to get the girl.

In the process, his hand got caught in the rope and part of his hand was severed. He reportedly severed several fingers.

He was airlifted to a Valley hospital. His injury is serious but not life threatening, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly after this incident, an approximately 36-year-old man began to struggle in the water.

Firefighters helped get him to shore. According to MCSO, the man was disoriented and spitting up water.

He was also taken to a Valley hospital by helicopter for treatment.

An baby boy drown in a bathtub at a home on the northwest side Saturday evening.

Oro Valley police officers the first to arrive, just after 5 p.m., at a home in the 9000 block of North Oracle Road between West Hardy Road and West Calle Concordia, and began performing CPR after the 12-month-old was found unresponsive in a bathtub, said Capt. Josh Hurguy, spokesman for the Golder Ranch Fire Department.

The baby was not breathing and did not have a pulse when paramedics arrived. Hurguy did not know how long the infant had been in the water.

The child was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, Hurguy said.

“Any time children are around water don’t leave them unattended,” Hurguy said.