Children's Safety Zone

PEORIA, AZ – Authorities said they have found the body of a man who drowned at Lake Pleasant Saturday.

The man went missing after he and two other men stole two canoes from the Maricopa County Flood District.

Peoria police spokesman Jay Davies said the three men were out at the lake Saturday when they stole the canoes.

One man got into a canoe by himself and somehow fell out and the other two jumped out of the second canoe into the water after him.

Davies said there was a struggle among the three men, and the man who had fallen into the lake went under water and did not resurface.

Police started searching for the man Saturday night, but did not find his body until Sunday morning.

The other two men Edwardo Mercado, and Julian Tamayo were able to swim to shore and were detained by people from a private lodge nearby until police arrived.

The two men were taken to a local hospital for dehydration.

Davies said both men were from El Mirage, one 20 years old and the other 26.

They were taken into custody and possibly face theft or burglary and trespassing charges, according to Davies.

Davies said an investigation continues into whether this was an accidental drowning or a possible homicide.

GOLD CANYON, AZ – Authorities say a 3-year-old boy who was pulled out of a swimming pool Monday in Gold Canyon has died.

“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” the boy’s grandmother, Beth Sutton said.

According to Pinal County Sheriff’s spokesman Elias Johnson, deputies responded to a drowning call around 5 p.m. Monday on the 17000 block of  E. Paseo del Canto Street.

When crews arrived, they found the boy’s 27-year-old father performing CPR on him.

The child was blue in color and was not responsive.

He was transported to Arizona Regional Hospital by the Apache Junction Fire Department where doctors were able to establish a faint pulse.

The child was then flown to Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa where he was in extremely critical condition.

The boy passed away around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to Johnson.

The child’s grandmother said the boy and his father had been living at their home for nearly a year.

“Watch your babies. You have to have a minimum of one set of eyes on them at all times,” Sutton said.

The child was outside with a Labrador Retriever when he somehow fell into the water.

“We’ll never know exactly what happened,” Sutton said.

Deputies said there is a protective safety fence around the pool, but the entrance was left open.

The father claims he was away for approximately two minutes.

“Don’t walk by an open gate to your pool and say I’ll just be a minute. Fix it. Close it,” the boy’s grandfather, Tom Sutton advised other parents and grandparents.

A 49-year-old man was found motionless at the bottom of Lake Pleasant by scuba diving partner, authorities said.

Peoria Fire Department spokesman Tom Pendley said the men were diving about 15 feet below the water.

Fellow divers attempted to rescue him while others called 911. When they pulled the man from the lake, he was not breathing Pendley said.

An off-duty paramedic administered CPR and resuscitated the man and before he was airlifted to John C. Lincoln hospital, he said.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ – Authorities are investigating the apparent drowning of a 16-year-old Boy Scout from Utah at Supai Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Department says an investigation shows Kreg Harrison, Jr. of St. George, Utah and three other scouts were swimming in the pool of water immediately below Mooney Falls Wednesday and were attempting to swim near to or underneath the waterfall.

Investigators described the pool under the falls as about 5 feet deep with a very strong undercurrent.

The boys reportedly saw Harrison struggle and go under the water, and when one of the boys tried to pull the victim above the water the undercurrent was so strong it almost pulled the second boy under as well.

Eventually, one of the other swimmers was able to pull Harrison to shore and a number of people, including a medical doctor with the group, tried to save Harrison by administering CPR.

Two of the scouts trapped behind the falls were rescued by adult leaders and boy scouts by forming a human chain.

Harrison’s body was flown by a Department of Public Safety to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Officials said the group had planned on staying in the canyon until Friday, but in light of the events were being flown out of the canyon by helicopter today.

MARICOPA, AZ – A father says he thought his relatives were watching his 3-year-old daughter when he left the Maricopa neighborhood pool; meanwhile, the relatives thought he had taken the child with him.

No one noticed when the girl jumped into the pool and started to sink.

Despite being in the water for up to six minutes, the girl is perfectly fine, her father Justo Valenzuela said.

“God was with her,” said Valenzuela.

His daughter Ariza barely remembers what happened on Saturday .

“If I wouldn’t have gone to get [dinner], this wouldn’t have happened,” Valenzuela told ABC15.

Valenzuela said there must have been miscommunication among the family, something he said will never happen again.

“I could have lost one of the most precious things God has given me,” he said.

Ariza’s aunt began CPR and revived the child just as paramedics were arriving.

Valenzuela said his daughter is on an antibiotic to help combat any bacteria in her lungs, but other than that, she’s healthy.

“She’s our miracle,” Ariza’s aunt said.