Police say a 5-year-old girl has died after falling into a covered, in-ground pool behind her house in Methuen, Massachusetts.
Residents on Russell Street say people were running around frantically looking for the little girl, and when they found her, it was their worst fears coming true.
"The more I keep thinking about it, the more I see her face and what she was wearing, what she looked like," said Ed Reai, who watched as firefighters lifted his young neighbor out the pool and into an ambulance. "Next thing you know, the grandmother is coming around the corner and asks if they found her. I said 'Yeah.' She asked where, I said, 'In the pool.' That's when she fell to the ground and started crying."
Around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Ron Desrocher heard the voice of a panicked mother.
"We heard a lady screaming, calling the baby's name, she was looking for her," he said.
Police say a 15-year-old was in charge of watching the little girl and a few other kids, but that the child's mom was home, in another room with a friend.
"When they came to check on the kids, they realized the little girl was missing," said Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon.
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The chief says the pool hadn't been used in years. Part of the cover had come off, and the water was so dirty, it took firefighers 45 minutes to search through it.
"It was full of mud and muck, and it was green, so they had to really search the whole pool," said Solomon.
He says they found the little girl's lifeless body submerged in water under the diving board. He says paramedics did everything they could, but she was pronounced dead at the hospital just before 2:30 p.m.
"It's a tragedy, it shouldn't have happened," said Reai. "But it's a reminder to everybody, too, if you've got a pool, make sure its locked down."
Solomon says the victim was the mother's only child. Her husband is out of the country right now, so police are doing everything they can to make sure she has the support she needs during this very difficult time.
The investigation is ongoing, but the chief doesn't expect any charges to be filed in this case.
A firefighter suffered some injuries, including a possible broken nose and ribs, when he jumped into the pool to try to find the girl.
