UPDATE: 4-year-old South Webster girl drowns

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WHEELERSBURG — Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini has identified the girl who drown over the weekend in a Scioto County motel pool.

The child is identified as Abby Ruby, age 4, of 1970 Hope Road in South Webster.

Donini said the sheriff’s office is currently conducting an investigation concerning the circumstances which resulted in the drowning at around 2:55 p.m., Sunday, in the pool area of the Comfort Inn, located at 8226 Ohio River Road in Wheelersburg.

Donini said the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office 911 center received a 911 telephone call from the Comfort Inn requesting a squad respond to an incident concerning a child who they said, at the time, had “almost drowned.”

Sheriff’s deputies said they arrived at the scene at approximately 3:07 p.m. and discovered that Portsmouth Ambulance had already arrived and was in the process of providing treatment and transported the child to Southern Ohio Medical Center’s emergency department, where the child was declared deceased by the emergency department attending physician at approximately 4:08 p.m.

Donini said his deputies learned that the child, along with several other children and their parents were attending a Valentine’s Day “get together” in the pool area of the Comfort Inn Motel.

They reportedly learned the children were all swimming and the adults were socializing when the mother of Abby Ruby suddenly noticed the child missing.

Donini said while the mother was searching the nearby area, one of the other parents discovered the child on the bottom of the pool near the five-foot-deep area and jumped in and brought the child out, where nearby individuals began initiating CPR until the ambulance arrived.

“This was simply a terrible tragedy,” Donini said.

He went on to say the preliminary investigation indicates the incident was accidental. The investigation remains ongoing.

By Frank Lewis

[email protected]

Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.

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