STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A 3-year-old girl is dead after police say she was found in a small body of water near her home a few hours after she was pronounced missing in Stafford.
According to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, detectives responded to the Rappahannock Landing Subdivision just in Stafford County, just north of Fredericksburg, at around 4:37 p.m. on Thursday, May 4 for a report of a missing 3-year-old girl. It is believed that she had last been seen about an hour before police were called.
The Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team began combing the area around the subdivision while detectives and deputies canvassed neighboring homes. A Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit was dispatched to attempt to track the girl and Stafford Fire and Rescue launched a boat to check the nearby Rappahannock River.
At 7:08 p.m., the girl was found in a small body of water about half a mile from her home. She was removed from the water and a deputy performed CPR before she was taken to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg. Lifesaving procedures were conducted for over an hour, but the girl was eventually pronounced dead at the hospital, according to police.
Police are still in the early stages of the investigation but believe the girl’s death was an accident. The girl was not identified by police.
