As Girl Saved, No One Sees Boy Underwater

Everybody at a crowded motel pool was so busy trying to revive a 5-year-old girl who nearly drowned, they didn’t notice that her 6-year-old cousin lay at the murky bottom, police say.

More than an hour after paramedics arrived at the Travelodge pool Sunday to take the girl to the hospital, another child jumped in the pool and discovered the body of Ronald M. Burris of East St. Louis.

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The girl was in good condition Monday.

Ronald’s mother was at work, but other adults were supervising the children, Detective Robert Carpenter said.

“There were lots of adults in the pool at the time. The ones looking after him were busy looking after the little girl, and they apparently didn’t know the boy was in trouble,” Carpenter said. “He just slipped through the cracks.”

The water was cloudy, making it difficult to see the bottom.