Missing 3-Year-Old in Rens. County was Sadly Found in Nearby Pool

A toddler in Pleasantdale, NY got out of his parents' sight just long enough on Sunday to make it outdoors.  After a frantic search by law enforcement and community members, they sadly found the 3-year-old in a nearby pool in what is being investigated as an 'accidental drowning.'

You don't have to be a parent to feel the emotional impact of this Rensselaer County tragedy, but if you are, this one really hits hard.

According to Sidewinder Photography - a source that routinely breaks news from Capital Region emergency scenes - first responder units from the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office and New York State Police were dispatched to 319 Oakhurst Street for a report of a missing three-year-old.

Sidewinder reported that "the parents notified Police that (the) child got out of their sight and had walked out the front door of the house...wearing a black and gray dinosaur shirt, sweatpants and no shoes on."

Frantically, law enforcement started to search for the missing toddler named Owen. One of the first places they looked was a nearby pool, but Owen wasn't there.

As more and more people throughout the community heard what was happening, hundreds joined in on the search.

"Without hesitation," according to Sidewinder Photography,  "neighbors with flashlights poured into the streets and headed towards the home of the missing child...Members of the community began to search neighborhoods around where the child had gone missing near the ballfield."

A short time later, according to Sidewinder, members of law enforcement went back to the nearby swimming pool - believed to be on the same property where the little boy went missing - and looked again.   That's when they saw the backpack that recently floated to the surface.