2-Year-Old Girl Pulled Unresponsive From F-Section Pool Sunday Has Died

Last Updated: 6:01 p.m.

The 2-year-old daughter of Mandee and Douglas Seitz who was pulled unresponsive from her swimming pool in Palm Coast’s F-Section Sunday evening died late Monday night, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said today.

The Orange County Medical Examiner’s office informed the sheriff’s office today of the death, which took place at 11:50 p.m. at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando. The child, called Aryia, was rushed there Sunday night.

Deputies began arriving at the child’s house on Fort Caroline Court around 7 p.m. Sunday after a caller to 911 reported that the 2-year-old was not breathing after being pulled from the swimming pool. Douglas Seitz was actively performing CPR on the child when the deputy got there, according to one of several incident reports. The deputy, Craig Rossi, used an automatic external defibrillator and continued CPR on the child, who had no pulse and was not breathing. Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Palm Coast Fire Department then took over.

Aryia was initially taken to Florida Hospital Flagler, where she regained a pulse, then to Halifax Hospital in Daytona before she was transferred to Arnold Palmer’s intensive care unit. A victims’ advocate from the sheriff’s office also responded to the scene, and the Department of Children and Families was contacted about the incident, but the sheriff’s office on its Facebook page stated that while the investigation is continuing, “the incident appears to be an accident and no foul play is suspected.”

Additional reports shed more light on the circumstances that led to Aryia ending up in the water, including a five page report by investigator Eric Glasgow.

Douglas Seitz, 40, walked Glasgow through the areas of the house that had a role in the incident. “As we exited the main part of the residence to the rear Florida room it was noticed that there were a total of three entry/exit points from the main part of the residence to the Florida room,” Glasgow wrote. “I manipulated all three doors and heard an audible alarm that sounded every time the doors were opened or closed. I also observed that there was one door that went from the Florida room out to the back patio where the pool was located. This door was not alarmed; however, it did have a child protective door knob cover which was challenging, even for me, to operate.”

At the time of the incident, Douglas was outside, working in the backyard, from where he’d periodically look in and see his children playing in a back playroom. His wife Mandee and three of the children were inside. Douglas was working on the sprinkler system. At one point he went to the front yard to adjust the sprinklers. When he returned to the backyard, he looked through the window and didn’t see Aryia, as he had before. He figured she was elsewhere in the house with Mandee. He made a few more adjustments to the sprinklers then walked to the garage before going to the pool deck.

A separate, supplemental incident report by Rossi notes the alarm system and child safety covers on doorknobs and adds: “Mandee was inside the garage at the time. Somehow the child opened the door from the enclosed lanai to the pool deck.”

Glasgow’s report continued: “Mr. Seitz then peered through the window directly form the pool deck which gave him a full clear view of the interior of the playroom,” the report states. “Mr. Seitz did not observe Aryia. He then moved over to the windows on the Florida room which gave him a clear view of most of the rest of the interior of the house and still did not see Aryia. As Mr. Seitz turned around to go back through the garage and enter the residence he observed Aryia in the swimming pool, face down, under the water.” (Rossi’s report states that, according to the child’s mother, “it was possibly 15 minutes or that she was not supervised by an adult.”)

Douglas Seitz immediately jumped in the pool, retrieved his daughter and began life-saving measures while alerting his wife and calling 911. Later that evening Glasgow drove the child’s parents to Arnold Palmer as the child was being transported by ambulance there. Glasgow’s report concludes by declaring the case “inactive.”

The Sheriff’s Office noted in its updates on the child’s case that Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club are sponsoring a water safety day on Saturday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where swim lessons for children will be offered. The club is located at 73 Patricia Drive in Palm Coast. For more information on this event, please call (386) 446-7676.