HOUSTON — Houston police said an 8-year-old girl was found dead inside a pipe in a hotel pool late Saturday night near Highway 290.
It happened at a DoubleTree hotel near Pinemont Drive and Highway 290.
Police said they responded around 5:45 p.m. to a missing person call. Officials said the girl, now identified as Aliyah Jaico, was swimming with other family members in a lazy river-style swimming pool at the hotel when she went missing.
Houston police said officers could not find Aliyah so they called for assistance from several agencies, including Texas EquuSearch and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice since they have a bloodhound and a long pole with a camera to help search. That is how she was found in the pipe.
Police said when the searchers found Aliyah in one of the pipes, the Houston Fire Department was called back out to the scene to recover her body. Paramedics pronounced her dead.
The medical examiner's office determined Aliyah drowned.
Lawyers for Aliyah's family told KHOU 11 News they have filed a lawsuit in Harris County Civil Court on their behalf.
On Monday, the Houston Health Department released a new inspection of the pool, which reported multiple violations including a ladder with missing treads.
The report also included 32-inch channel drains on the walls of the pool with no valid documentation and a variety of issues with doors and gates at the pool.
The pool is closed until further notice and will need to be reinspected.
"Entrapments are really what we call them, these incidents are extremely rare," said Adam Katchmarchi with the National Drowning Prevention Alliance.
In 2007, congress passed the Virginia Graeme Baker Act, which requires commercial pools to cover their drains.
Still, drowning prevention advocates say children need to be told to steer clear.
“Even though operationally these types of incidents should not occur, accidents can happen so just making sure kids stay away from any drains," Katchmarchi said.
KHOU 11 News has reached out to the parent company of the hotel for comment.