Two young siblings reported missing on New York's Long Island have been found dead.
The fully clothed bodies of Ralph Knowles, 5, and Sharon Knowles, 7, were pulled from the black waters of a neighbor's pool in 50-degree temperatures on Sunday, police said.
Authorities received a 911 call at about 3.30pm from a mother reporting that her children had disappeared from their home in Central Islip, said Detective Sgt. Edward Fandrey of the Suffolk County police homicide squad.
While searching the neighborhood, an officer spotted a shoe floating in a next-door neighbor's above ground pool, which was uncovered and contained blackish water, Fandrey said.
Officers jumped into the 4-foot-deep pool and discovered the unconscious bodies of Ralph and Sharon .
The brother and sister were taken to Southside Hospital, where efforts to resuscitate them failed, Fandrey said.
The pool is surrounded by a deck. The pool and deck are both are sunken into the ground and surrounded by a low, wooden fence.
Fandrey said the pool's owner had been cited by the town for improper fencing.
'The exposed side of the stockade fence was facing out, instead of the smooth side,' he said, adding that the slats made it easier to climb over the shared fence.
Tragedy: This is the black water pool where the bodies of a young brother and sister were found in 50-degree weather on Sunday
The owner was cited by county code officials for not putting sufficient barriers around the pool
Distraught: Mother Tia Knowles pictured at a friend's home
Telephone calls to numbers listed for the addresses of the victims and the pool's owner went unanswered Sunday night.
The home where the children lived is owned by a nonprofit that provides housing to homeless families, Newsday reported.
The children's uncle, Henry Valentine, 32, of Jamaica, Queens, told the newspaper that the childrens' mother, whom he identified as Tia Knowles, was 'devastated.'
'She's not doing good at all,' he said.
About ten people die from unintentional drowning every day in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, two of the victims are children aged 14 or younger.
Drowning is the fifth leading cause of deaths from unintentional injury in the United States, the CDC said.For every child who dies from drowning, another five need to receive emergency hospital treatment for their injuries, according to the agency.
The fully clothed bodies of Ralph Knowles, 5, and Sharon Knowles, 7, were pulled from the black waters of a neighbor's pool in 50-degree temperatures on Sunday, police said.
Authorities received a 911 call at about 3.30pm from a mother reporting that her children had disappeared from their home in Central Islip, said Detective Sgt. Edward Fandrey of the Suffolk County police homicide squad.
While searching the neighborhood, an officer spotted a shoe floating in a next-door neighbor's above ground pool, which was uncovered and contained blackish water, Fandrey said.
Officers jumped into the 4-foot-deep pool and discovered the unconscious bodies of Ralph and Sharon .
The brother and sister were taken to Southside Hospital, where efforts to resuscitate them failed, Fandrey said.
The pool is surrounded by a deck. The pool and deck are both are sunken into the ground and surrounded by a low, wooden fence.
Fandrey said the pool's owner had been cited by the town for improper fencing.
'The exposed side of the stockade fence was facing out, instead of the smooth side,' he said, adding that the slats made it easier to climb over the shared fence.
Tragedy: This is the black water pool where the bodies of a young brother and sister were found in 50-degree weather on Sunday
The owner was cited by county code officials for not putting sufficient barriers around the pool
Distraught: Mother Tia Knowles pictured at a friend's home
Telephone calls to numbers listed for the addresses of the victims and the pool's owner went unanswered Sunday night.
The home where the children lived is owned by a nonprofit that provides housing to homeless families, Newsday reported.
The children's uncle, Henry Valentine, 32, of Jamaica, Queens, told the newspaper that the childrens' mother, whom he identified as Tia Knowles, was 'devastated.'
'She's not doing good at all,' he said.
About ten people die from unintentional drowning every day in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, two of the victims are children aged 14 or younger.
Drowning is the fifth leading cause of deaths from unintentional injury in the United States, the CDC said.For every child who dies from drowning, another five need to receive emergency hospital treatment for their injuries, according to the agency.