Breaking News: Stephens County Sheriff asks community to pray for family of toddler

A toddler discovered missing around 7:30 p.m. Saturday was found unresponsive in a neighbor’s pool on Tatum Drive in Toccoa.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley reports the 3-year-old boy’s mother and grandparents began looking for him and immediately discovered his bicycle in the neighbor’s yard. They began calling him as they walked around the house and discovered him face down in the pool.

“They immediately call 9-1-1 and the child was rushed to Stephens County Hospital, where doctors worked tirelessly attempting to revive the little boy and it was to no avail.”

First responders were quick in their response to the scene and immediately took the child and began CPR until paramedics from Stephens County Emergency Medical Services arrived to transport him to the hospital, according to Shirley.

“His father is serving in the military and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas,” Shirley said. “After he was notified, he was flying into Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport with a chaplain and comrade of his. My deputy met them at the airport and brought them back to Stephens, where they met with family. Our chaplain, Paul Garrison of the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, met with them at the hospital and they were given some of the details of what had happened.”

Shirley said the child had been playing in the yard but was supposed to have been inside the house. The mother, uncle, and grandfather noticed their child missing and began to look for him. About 10 minutes had elapsed when they discovered him in the neighbor’s above-ground pool.

Foul play is not suspected, according to Shirley.

“It appears to have just been a tragic event,” Shirley said.

Coroner Chris Stephens transported the child from the morgue to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime Lab for an autopsy scheduled for today, June 17.

“As sheriff, I’m asking that the entire community rally around this dear family with their prayers of comfort and love,” Shirley said. “One day when we all get to heaven, we’ll know as we greet those who have gone on before us and perhaps have an understanding of what occurred, why it occurred and be reunited with this precious family’s little child. But we know that our Lord cares for us, and He says to ‘cast your cares upon Him for I careth for you’.”

Shirley said the incident impacted not only the family and friends and the responders, but also Stephens County.

“It’s such a sad day for this family, a sad day for all the public safety that were involved in this, and a sad day for our community, and we just send out our prayers of comfort and love for them today,” Shirley said. “It was very emotional for everyone at the scene. For the mother and grandparents to have discovered this, it’s just overwhelming grief and I’m so thankful for those that were able to come out and rally around the family. It means a lot and it makes me proud of our community. We’ll get through this. The Good Lord will get us through this, and we’ll wait for the reports and wait for the arrangements later from the family.”

The child’s name has not been released.

Rob Moore of AccessWDUN contributed to this report.