Detectives investigate family drowning in Hollywood house pool

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Candles remained lit overnight beside a bouquet of flowers at the front steps of a home in Hollywood where a man and his two children drowned on Thursday.

Crime scene detectives snapped photos and searched for clues well into the evening as they investigated how this happened.

“I saw an ambulance and a cop car racing here, so I thought maybe something had happened,” Mario Lemus, who lives nearby, said.

Police said they received a frantic 911 call from the wife and mother of the victims around 3:30 p.m. after she spotted them all unconscious in the pool on the 700 block of South Highlands Drive.

The husband and two kids - aged 5 and 2 - were rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital, where they were each pronounced dead.

Sky 10 flew over the home, which showed a backyard swimming pool on the property.

A distraught woman, believed to be the mother, could also be seen as she was comforted by responding officers.

Now police are trying to figure out how things went so tragically wrong.

“At this point, detectives are just investigating what they can,” Hollywood police spokeswoman Deanna Bettineschi said.

Foul play is not suspected in the victims’ deaths.

Their identities have not yet been released.


About the Authors

Liane Morejon is an Emmy-winning reporter who joined the Local 10 News family in January 2010. Born and raised in Coral Gables, Liane has a unique perspective on covering news in her own backyard.

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

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