Heartbreaking 911 audio reveals beachgoers' desperate attempts to free girl after hole she was digging collapsed
Chelsea Connor
Featured Image Credit: CBS News/ YouTube/CBS Miami
A frantic 911 call revealed the horrifying moment a seven-year-old girl was buried in the hole she was digging at the beach.
Beachgoers desperately tried to help the young girl after a hole she had been digging collapsed and she was buried in the sand.
The girl, who police have now named as Sloan Mattingly from Indiana, was digging a hole at the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday (February 20) before tragedy struck.
Advert
The hole, believed to be around four to five feet deep, collapsed, leaving Sloan and her brother Maddox, nine, trapped.
Maddox was buried up to his chest, but Sloan was buried beneath the sand.
It's believed around 20 beachgoers ran to help the trapped girl, while others quickly called 911 for assistance.
Witness Lee Ann Heinlein told CBS: "You could see everybody digging every time. More help came. There were more shovels arriving on the scene. You could hear them calling for buckets.
"All you can think about is the parents. I mean, and the little boy that was their son. Now, they have to go through a whole different kind of learning to live."
The fire department reached the scene at around 3pm, using support boards to try and prevent more sand from collapsing into the hole, as well as using shovels to try and dig the children out.
After 'around 20 minutes' of frantically digging through the sand, the young girl was pulled from the sand and transported to the nearest hospital, were she was later pronounced dead. Maddox remains in hospital.
Her mother Therese told CBS News in a statement: "A freak accident happened yesterday while we are here on vacation and it took away our greatest 7.5 years.
"Don't tell us you're sorry for our loss... don't do that to us. We experienced the purest human being ever and we are forever changed by her.
"We love you beyond any stretch of the imagination. Our sweet Sloan. What we would give."
Now, 911 calls from the scene have been released.
One alarmed witness can be heard telling a dispatcher on the 911 call how the mother was desperately yelling: "My daughter is in there."
"Everybody's screaming," the caller continued, before adding: "They do not see her head, they do not see her.
"They have not gotten the child out yet.'
"Oh, this mother... oh this is awful," they said.
There are currently no lifeguards at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, by according to the city mayor discussions are underway to introduce them.
UNILAD has contacted Broward Sheriff's Office for a comment.