ST. GEORGE, Utah, Aug. 10, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Aiden Nuzzo, the 7-year-old boy found Monday at the bottom of a motel swimming pool in St. George, died late Tuesday.
Aiden, who had autism and was nonverbal, reportedly walked away from an adjacent motel while his mother was asleep.
Celia Nuzzo, Aiden’s mother, called police at 7:31 a.m. Monday to report the boy had left the room and could not be found, St. George Police Department Officer Lona Trombley told Gephardt Daily.
Officers responded to Coronada Inn and Suites, at 559 E. St. George Blvd., on the lost-child report.
Trombley said officers were notified the boy has a tendency to go toward water, so they immediately began checking pools and splash pads in the area.
Aiden was found 10 minutes later at the bottom of the outdoor pool at Sands Motel, which is at 581 E. St. George Blvd., next to the Coronada Inn and Suites.
Trombley said officers used a lifeguard pole to pull the boy from the pool, then performed CPR on him for 20 minutes. He was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center, then airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
A family member confirmed on Wednesday that Aiden had passed away.
A GoFundMe page that indicates it was set up on Celia Nuzzo’s behalf originally asked for help with medical expenses, but was later changed to an appeal for funeral expenses. The page, which set a goal of $5,000, had raised $1,447 as of 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The page states that Aiden’s mother had been struggling with the death of her husband.
“She lost her husband mid June so has had to be both mommy and daddy to little Aiden…. In addition, she was living in the women’s crisis center for a couple/few weeks, trying to save up some money and find affordable housing, but it was just a short term center, so they kicked her and Aiden out after being there the max of days allowed, leaving them with nowhere to go except for a hotel. And now this horrible tragedy happened.”
