Children's Safety Zone

BULLHEAD CITY – The National Park Service has identified a California man who drowned at Lake Mohave in northwestern Arizona. The Park Service says 49-year-old Matthew S. Santistevan of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., was visiting the lake with his wife and friends Sunday.

Santistevan was wading in the lake when friends noticed he was missing. They found him nonresponsive in approximately 6-10 feet of water.

Friends pulled Santistevan ashore, began CPR, and contacted the National Park Service for help.

Authorities say Santistevan was not wearing a life jacket.

The death is under investigation by the National Park Service. The Clark County, Nev., Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The parents of an 11-month-old near-drowning victim found in a Tempe hotel room face child abuse charges.

Summer Dawn Angelly, 23, and Jasen Anchondo, 28, are charged with one felony count each.

Police said the couple’s son was found lying in the bathtub under a running faucet by police and firefighters responding to a call Aug. 12 at the Days Inn on East Apache Boulevard.

“[The child] was found unresponsive when officers arrived,” Tempe Police Sergeant Stephen Carbajal said.

The child was taken to a hospital. He has now been released and it appears he will make a full recovery.

Police said Angelly had run to the motel office screaming about the boy and the motel manager had gone to the room with a cell phone. Although the father stated the child was “OK,” the manager noted the child did not appear to be breathing. She called 911.

Upon questioning, both Angelly and Anchondo changed their story of events. The infant had soiled his diaper and was placed in the tub because there were no more clean diapers. The water was left running and the infant was left alone. Both parents admitted to being aware that their son was in the tub, unsupervised.

Both Angelly and Anchondo were asleep in bed when the boy’s four-year-old sister awakened them, saying that her little brother was “asleep in the tub.”

Police called Child Protective Services, which took custody of the sister, her 2-year-old brother and a twin 11-month-old brother.

“Obviously children are very vulnerable and have the expectation that their parents are going to provide for their safety,” Carbajal said. “What happened that morning was very tragic but just negligent and very irresponsible.”

Police said the parents and four children moved to Tempe from California approximately eight weeks ago, and had been staying with a family member prior to moving into the motel.

If you have a pool, you’re probably going to be spending at least part of the next few days in it.

But every person who spends time with children needs to realize having a pool, or any water near kids, is a huge responsibility.

“Justin and Eric were born July 12, 2007,” remembered Elisa Hart.

It was a happy surprise when Hart found out she was having twins, but it was a blessing that would be short lived.

Eric was just 2 1/2-years-old when he drowned in the backyard pool.

Hart still has trouble talking about it and admitting what went wrong that day.

“There was a piece of screen dug up by my dog,” she said.

A big enough chunk of the window’s screen was missing for Eric to climb through.

“There’s just enough space between the Arizona room and the pool, so he knocked himself unconscious, broke his collarbone and slipped right into the pool,” she said.

A year later, there’s a constant reminder that where there’s one little boy there should be two.

Smiling pictures push the Harts to do the impossible — talk about the tragedy in the hope of educating others.

“I hate to say it, but learn from what happened to me,” Hart said.

“It’s been pretty awful this year,” said Lori Schmidt with the Drowning Prevention Coalition of AZ.

But is that unusual?

As far as officials being called out to potential drownings, Arizona is right on track with about 30 by this time of year across the board for the past five years.

But this year, the number of deaths has doubled.

CBS 5 News wanted to know why.

“We have families who are stressed. We have families moving in with their parents,” Schmidt explained.

Schmidt said the economy is a big factor because people are constantly worrying and not as focused as they should be.

She said some are relying on grandparents and other family members to help raise kids, people who might not be as savvy when it comes to safety.

“You have to assume this can happen to you, and you need to know you can prevent it,” she said.

Schmidt said most drownings aren’t a lack of supervision, but a lapse of supervision.

Make sure all your safety precautions are up to date — pool fences, window and door locks and that your window screens are in tact.

And if you do notice a child is missing, check the pools and bathtubs first.

TEMPE, Ariz. — A one-year-old boy was fighting for his life Wednesday night after nearly drowning in a backyard pool.

It happened in a backyard near U.S. 60 and Rural Road just before 8 p.m.

Officials told CBS 5 News the child was home with one adult family member when the caretaker lost track of him for just a second.

It was long enough for the boy to find his way into the pool.

* VIDEO: 1-Year-Old Nearly Drowns In Backyard Pool

The adult was performing CPR on him when paramedics arrived. He was rushed to a local hospital.

Officials said this is one of the most difficult calls they respond to.

“This is a tragedy. There is no doubt that the police and fire personnel were definitely shook up. A lot of us are parents ourselves and this is one of the worse calls you can go on in a police or fire career,” said Lt. Scott Smith.

Smith said this serves as a terrible reminder to make sure to always keep an eye on children near water.

TEMPE, AZ (KPHO) – An Arizona State University swimmer drowned after sneaking into the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the ASU campus early Monday morning.

James Rigg and Andrew Schneller, both 22 and former members of the ASU swim team, scaled the wall of the complex to go swimming after midnight, said Jim Hardina of the ASU Police Department.

While swimming, Schneller spotted Rigg at the bottom of the pool and called 911, Hardina said.

Rigg was taken to Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 3 a.m.

“I just really feel bad for this kid’s family and friends,” said ASU instructor Chad McCallister. “The swim team is a very close-knit community. This is just terrible.”

“It makes you start to value your own life and each day you are living,” said ASU student Anna Daly. “You can’t take things for granted because you don’t know when a freak accident like that is going to happen.”

Rigg, of Niwot, CO, attended the University of Wyoming for two years before coming to ASU.

Hardina said police do not suspect foul play.

However, there are still questions about whether alcohol or a possible underlying medical condition was a factor.

A remembrance memorial was held Wednesday night on the ASU campus.

One classmate described Rigg as a likeable, outgoing, friendly guy, who loved swimming.

Rigg was expected to graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering this December.