Police Investigating Drowning of Toddler in Kona

Police are investigating the drowning today of an 18-month-old boy in Kailua-Kona.

Shortly before 9 a.m. the toddler’s mother told police that she had been watching her son play in a vacant lot near Lamaokeola Street. The 30-year-old woman reported that she turned away for a few seconds and then discovered that her son was missing.

The woman said she searched for the boy for 10 to 15 minutes before finding him floating face-down in a plastic tank filled with water.

The woman attempted cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the child until paramedics arrived. The boy was taken to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:37 a.m.

The incident is being investigated as a public accident.