This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 7-year-old Eagle Mountain girl drowned Thursday afternoon at a popular pond in Pleasant Grove.
A family and girl went to the Manila Creek Park Pond (3300 North 900 West) — an area for fishing and swimming. The child was swimming and playing with her family in an shallow area designated for swimming when the girl's mother, who was in the water nearby, turned to find her daughter unconscious, according to Pleasant Grove police Lt. Britt Smith.
"Nothing leads us to believe there was neglect ... it was just a terrible tragedy," he said, adding no one else saw the girl go under. "There were a lot of people there this afternoon."
Her mother pulled the girl from the pond just before 3 p.m., Smith said.
Bystanders performed CPR on the girl while waiting for emergency responders to arrive. Lifesaving efforts continued while the girl was transported to the hospital, where she also was given medical treatment, but later was pronounced dead.
Police have not released the name of the girl pending notification of next of kin, Smith said. The area where the girl was playing descends from a sandy beach to about 3 to 4 feet of water at the deepest point, Smith said.
Investigators are trying to determine how the girl drowned and how long she had been under before being pulled to shore. The Manila Creek Park Pond opened in 2011 and doesn't have any history of drowning cases. "This is first incident we have had ever at that pond, to my knowledge," Smith said.
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