Authorities are investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy who drowned in a south suburban public pool overnight.
Just before 4 a.m., Park Forest police officers responded to a home for a report of a missing child, the department said in a statement. Family members said the boy had been playing in the area of Central Park, according to police.
While police and his relatives searched for the boy, family members alerted officers that he was in a pool at the nearby Park Forest Aqua Center after seeing his clothing outside one of the pools, officials said.
One of the officers scaled the fence and entered the pool, according to police, pulling the child out and performing CPR.
Authorities said the boy was taken to Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified him as Jaleel Drayton, of the 200 block of Gold Street in Park Forest. An autopsy was not scheduled for Tuesday, according to the ME's office.
The Aqua Center facility, owned by the Village of Park Forest and managed by Jeff Ellis Management, will remain closed Tuesday, according to police.
Representatives of Jeff Ellis Management, which operates dozens of facilities across five states, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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The Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation unit responded to the scene to assist with the investigation, which remains ongoing, according to Park Forest police.
