8-Year-Old Girl, Two Adults Dead In New Jersey Swimming Pool Drowning

Three people, including an 8-year-old child, were found dead in a swimming pool at an East Brunswick home in New Jersey Monday (June 22).

Police identified the victims as an 8-year-old girl, her 32-year-old mother and her 62-year old uncle.

Police found the bodies after responding to a 911 call from a neighbor who heard screaming. Neighbors also said that the family had just moved into the home this past month and were new to the area.

Investigators believe that the screaming may have been the mother calling for help from the water.

Police said emergency responders found all three victims in about 4 feet of water in the above-ground oval-shaped pool behind the house. They were found unresponsive around 4:05 p.m. local time.

“All the deceased were taken out of the pool, CPR was done. They were all pronounced in the backyard,” Lt. Frank Sutter said during a press conference.

East Brunswick Police Chief Frank LoSacco said they were actively investigating the scene at the family’s home swimming pool but did not speculate on the cause of death.

“This is a devastating day for our entire community. It is too early to determine exactly what happened. We are working with the Middlesex County Prosecutors office and will release information as it develops,” LoSacco said in the e-mail statement.

Neighbors speculate that the death may have been related to a kind of electrical discharge but county prosecutors said the investigation was ongoing.

It was still unclear what caused the drowning of all three victims. Police have not publicly released the names of any of the victims.

Sutter said at least one relative was inside the family home at the time of the incident. Police are interviewing the relative but did not say if the relative or anyone else played a role in the drowning.

The home was surrounded by police, ambulance and neighbors as the investigation unfolded late into the evening.