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Last updated on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - A 3-year-old girl drowned in a retention pond at an east side apartment complex Tuesday evening.
Metro police said officers were dispatched to Marina Apartments, near Interstate 70 and Post Road, around 5 p.m. to investigate a missing child.
The victim's aunt told dispatchers that she had been taking a nap and when she awoke, her apartment door was open and her 3-year-old niece was missing.
Officers began searching door to door.
"Police came knocking at the door," said neighbor Margaret Crowe. "He was banging really hard, so we opened up the door. All of the neighbors were outside, and he was telling us they were missing a little girl."
Crowe joined in the search for the girl, and spotted the child in the pond, about 10 to 12 feet from the pond's edge.
The girl was mostly submerged, but Crowe caught sight of her pink clothes and shouted for officers.
"Once I said I saw something pink in the water, he ran down, asked me to hold his notebook and picture of the little girl. He ran into the water. He pulled her out," Crowe said.
EMS crews took the unresponsive girl to Community East Hospital in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead.
Officials will not release the name of the victim until the Marion County Coroner's Office can confirm her identity. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Homicide detectives and investigators from the coroner's office are investigating the incident.
Investigators will present their findings to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office to determine if criminal charges will be filed.
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