HOUSTON, TX – Authorities in south Texas are actively investigating the death of an 8-year-old girl, Aliyah Jaico, who was discovered dead in a pool pipe at a Houston-based DoubleTree Hotel over the weekend.
Houston Police Department representatives confirmed the devastating incident took place on the city’s northwest side on Saturday. The hotel, situated approximately 14 miles from downtown Houston, is located on U.S. Highway 290.
When the girl was reported missing around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, law enforcement officers were promptly dispatched to the scene. A police news release stated that detectives from the homicide division found that Aliyah had been swimming with her family in the hotel’s lazy river-style swimming pool prior to her death.
The unfortunate discovery of Aliyah’s lifeless body inside a large pool pipe happened late at night, around 11:30 p.m. The body was found after a search crew reviewed hotel security footage, capturing the moment Aliyah submerged underwater without resurfacing.
The search crew ventured around 20 feet into one of the pool’s pipes with a camera after draining the pool, leading to the discovery. Paramedics, who were called to the scene, confirmed the girl’s death.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science identified drowning and mechanical asphyxia as Aliyah’s preliminary reasons for death. The unfortunate event appears to be accidental, as per their assessment.
With official autopsy outcomes pending, police are expecting to affirm the definitive cause and manner of Aliyah’s untimely passing.
The local officials have urged anyone possessing potentially relevant information regarding the drowning to initiate contact with the Houston police force. As of Monday, the case is still under investigation.