Sheriff says death likely accidental

 

WHEELERSBURG — A 4-year-old child died Sunday, after drowning in the pool of a Wheelersburg motel, according the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the news release, deputies learned Abby Ruby, 4, of Hope Road in South Webster, was attending a Valentine’s Day “get together,” along with several other children and adults at the Comfort Inn Motel on Ohio River Road.

The children were swimming and the adults were socializing when Ruby’s mother noticed she was missing, the report stated. As the mother was searching the pool and surrounding area, one of the other adults discovered the girl on the bottom near the pool’s 5-foot-deep area, jumped in and brought her to the surface. Individuals initiated CPR until an ambulance arrived.

The Scioto County 911 center got a call at approximately 2:55 p.m. reporting a child who they were told had “almost drowned.”

Deputies arrived at approximately 3:07 p.m. and discovered a Portsmouth Ambulance team had already arrived shortly before and were providing treatment.

Ruby was taken to Southern Ohio Medical Center, where she was declared deceased by the hospital’s emergency department.

Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said the death was simply a “terrible tragedy” and that an investigation was under way. He said the preliminary results indicated the drowning was accidental.