Toddler Drowned in Rural Osteen Canal, VSO Says

The tragic death of a two-year-old boy in Osteen last week has been attributed to an accidental drowning, according to a statement released by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office on Sunday. The incident occurred on a large rural property in a canal. A 911 call was placed just before 6:00 pm on Saturday to a residence on Flowing Creek Way in Osteen, reporting a missing toddler. The boy’s parents had been looking for him already, and deputies joined the search when they arrived. Both the inside of the residence and the outside property were searched. Just minutes after the 911 call was placed, the mother of the missing toddler reportedly noticed that one of their dogs had wet fur, while the other one was at the edge of a retention canal barking in that direction. The mother went over to investigate, and spotted her son in the water. Along with a neighbor, she hurried into the canal and pulled him to dry land. Once out of the canal, deputies started administering CPR in an effort to revive the boy. Life-saving measures continued as he was placed in a patrol vehicle and rushed to a meeting place on Osteen Maytown Road where medics could take over. Although he was rushed to the hospital for further care, the boy was pronounced dead at 7:04 pm. According to the VSO’s investigation of the death, the boy had been playing in a fenced-in backyard with the two dogs while the mother was inside the residence with the back door open. She regularly checked on her son, the VSO says, but the boy managed to get out of a gate and approach a canal 300 feet away while she wasn’t watching. The canal was apparently blocked from view by foliage, and so while out of sight he tragically drowned in the water.