Hardin Co. Sheriff confirms 4-year-old drowned at popular swimming spot

SAVANNAH, Tenn. — We have received reports that a child drowned at a local swimming spot. We spoke to Hardin County Sheriff, Johnny Alexander, on Monday to learn more.

Saturday evening, Hardin County first responders were dispatched to a popular swimming hole in Indian Creek. The first call 911 received was concerning a missing child.

“The initial call was that the child was missing and had been missing for about 10 minutes,” said Sheriff Alexander.

Sheriff Alexander, says when law enforcement arrived on scene about 10 minutes after they received the initial call, they began searching the woods, around the swimming location.

“They was afraid that they had got in the water, so we went ahead and called the divers out with our fire department and within 30 to 40 minutes they had recovered the child out of the water,” said Sheriff Alexander.

According to the sheriff, the body of the 4-year-old child was found at a depth of around 8 feet of water. The child’s parents told law enforcement they were up near the roadway and lost sight of their child. They then assumed the child had wandered back to the campsite.

“The body was sent for an autopsy in Nashville, so we’re waiting on results of it. If anybody has any pertinent information that they might have about that day, they can come down to our office and ask to speak with Investigator Chisolm,” said Sheriff Alexander.

We were told by Hardin County residents who chose not to appear on camera that the area where the child drowned is actually private property and it is considered trespassing to swim there. Other residents who were attempting to swim Monday say that they were approached by a game warden and told they were going to begin ticketing people.

Sheriff Alexander told us they will not release further information about the incident before the completion of the investigation.

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