Police said the child showed signs of life hours after a backyard pool emergency in Gilbert.
GILBERT, AZ — A child pulled from a backyard pool in Gilbert on Feb. 8 was pronounced dead at a hospital, then showed signs of life hours later and was flown to another hospital, police said.
The case drew wide attention after police said the child was expected to survive despite the earlier death declaration. Authorities have not released the child’s name, age or gender. Officials also have not confirmed public claims that the child was placed in a morgue before signs of life were noticed, leaving a central part of the account unclear.
Gilbert police and fire crews were called at about 5:35 p.m. Feb. 8 to a home near the 3000 block of East Arris Drive, in a neighborhood southeast of Phoenix. The call came on Super Bowl Sunday after a child was found in a backyard pool. First responders provided lifesaving care at the home before the child was taken to a local hospital. Medical staff continued treatment there, but the child was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. Later that night, just before 11:30 p.m., Gilbert police were notified that the child was showing signs of life. The child was then flown to another Valley hospital for further treatment.
Police said the child was expected to survive, but they released few other details. The department said the investigation was ongoing and did not say how long the child had been in the water, who found the child or whether any adults were present when the emergency began. Officials also did not name the hospital where the child was first taken or the hospital that later received the child by air. Reports about a hospital morgue have not been confirmed by police. Dr. Frank LoVecchio, an emergency medicine physician in Arizona, said the account was rare and difficult to assess without a full record. “Never say never in medicine,” LoVecchio said, while adding that the public account appeared to be missing key facts.
LoVecchio said cold water and a very low body temperature can make a pulse hard to detect and can make a person appear to have no signs of life. He said a child pulled from water could have a faint pulse or low body activity that might be missed without careful checks. Still, he said pronouncing a child dead is a moment when medical workers are normally very cautious. He said doctors would want to be sure there was no heartbeat, movement or blood pressure and that body temperature had been considered. LoVecchio said he had not heard of a case exactly like the Gilbert report and called the survival “absolutely a miracle,” while also saying more information would be needed to understand what happened.
The incident unfolded in a region where backyard pools are common and child drownings have long been a public safety concern. Gilbert, a fast-growing town in Maricopa County, has seen other child drowning investigations in recent years. In December 2023, Gilbert police said a 1½-year-old child died after a drowning call near Greenfield and Guadalupe roads. In that case, first responders also provided lifesaving care before the child was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The Feb. 8 case differs because police later received word that the child had signs of life after being pronounced dead. Authorities have not said whether the two cases share any facts beyond the involvement of young children and residential water emergencies.
The legal and medical reviews could focus on several steps in the timeline: the response at the home, treatment at the first hospital, the decision to pronounce the child dead and the later transfer for care. Police have not announced arrests or charges. They also have not said whether the case has been referred to prosecutors, child welfare officials or a medical licensing board. The hospitals involved have not been publicly identified in official police statements available through news reports, and no doctor who made the death declaration has been named. The absence of those details has left unanswered questions about where the child was between 6:20 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
The account also raised questions because some early public discussion described the child as being found alive in a morgue. Police statements reported by local outlets said only that officers were notified just before 11:30 p.m. that the child showed signs of life and was flown to another hospital. LoVecchio said it was possible in a broad sense but not likely, based on the limited facts, that a child would be pronounced dead, sent to a morgue and later awaken there. He said the more careful reading is that some part of the timeline remains unknown. For now, police have confirmed the initial pool emergency, the death declaration, the later signs of life and the child’s expected survival.
The case remained under investigation as of July 2, 2026. Gilbert police had not released the child’s identity or a final report, and no public hearing or charging decision had been announced.
Author note: Last updated July 2, 2026.