Saturday, January 18, 2025 - A toddler was found "submerged" in a canal while his family were in the process of "moving to a new home to minimise the risk of drowning".
Jayce Olutola, 2, was discovered "floating face down" in
the Wolverhampton and Birmingham Canal on August 11,
2024.
He vanished from his home in Ettingshall after escaping from his
home.
A police officer, who was searching for him, said she spotted him about two
inches "below the surface".
The officer raced into the water and tried to revive him, but he was
sadly pronounced de@d at the scene.
Black Country Coroner's Court heard
that Jayce lived with his parents close to the waterway.
His mother had left the house at around 5pm to move their belongings into the
new property.
The inquest was told that she
left the garage door open and about 30 minutes later, his great-aunt signalled
the alarm that he had disappeared. It is suspected that he most likely escaped
through the garage.
Black Country Senior Coroner Mr Zafar
Siddique read statements from the family who he said were excused from
attending the hearing due to the distressing circumstances.
He added: "Jayce lived with his
parents who were in the process of moving. His father was at work and his
mother left at about 5pm to move things into the new property. At some point
his great-aunt noticed she could not hear Jayce in the house.
"She searched the house and saw that
the garage door was open. She immediately went to search round the house for
him and out in the streets nearby. Sadly, she could not find him and started to
look round the canal area. His mother then returned and dialled 999 to report
him missing."
His lifeless body was recovered from the
canal at around 6pm. Mr Siddique also read the statement of PC
Bates, the officer who tragically found him.
The officer described how she carried out a
search of the towpath for several minutes before spotting him in the water. PC
Bates stated: "I saw a member of the public walking and I stopped to ask
them if they had seen a small child.
"They had not. I turned around and walked towards Jayce's home and after
about 30ft I saw what looked like a little child in the water, in the middle of
the canal about 5ft away. He was about two inches below the
surface."
She described how she pressed her emergency
button to summon for an ambulance then climbed into the water. She stated that
she lifted him out of the water before carrying out CPR until other officers
and a doctor arrived at the scene.
The coroner said Jayce was taken
to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital where he was pronounced de@d despite
efforts to save him.
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