More Top Picks Best Platform Swings For Therapy
player ready...Police were investigating the apparent drowning of a 10-year-old boy who was pulled from a Park Forest village pool early Tuesday morning.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the boy as Jaleel R. Drayton of Park Forest.
A short time before 4 a.m., the family of the victim called police to report that he was missing and that he had previously been seen playing near the village’s Aqua Center, according to a news release from the Park Forest Police Department.
While officers searched, family members noticed the boy’s clothing on the ground near one of the pools at the center. An officer scaled the security fence, pulled the victim from the water and began performing CPR, but the victim was later pronounced dead at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields in Olympia Fields, according to the release.
Police said he apparently entered the pool facility after hours but they did not indicate how.
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said that no autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.
Jaleel’s family declined to comment. The youth lived a couple of blocks away from the Aqua Center, 30. N. Orchard Drive.
The Aqua Center was closed Tuesday while police conducted their investigation.
Police had placed yellow caution tape across the parking lot entrances of the Aqua Center, as well as blocking a path immediately west of the pool.
At one point Tuesday, three police sport utility vehicles were parked at various points around the center.
Village officials did not respond to a call seeking more information about security at the pool, including whether video cameras are used to monitor the area when the pools are not in use. A message seeking comment with Jeff Ellis Management, which operates the pool for Park Forest, was not returned.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, police hadn’t released any new information about the incident.
Police earlier in the day offered the department’s sympathy to the boy’s family.
“While any death is reason to grieve, the death of a child is particularly troubling, and the Park Forest Police Department offers its sincerest condolences to the loved ones and friends of the juvenile,” police said in the release.
Mike Nolan is a reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Twitter @mattwalberg1
Twitter @mnolan_j More Top Picks Best Red Light Bulbs For Sleep