Girl likely drowned in pond near George

A 10-year-old Issaquah girl died Monday night after she slipped under the surface of a pond near George.

The girl was on vacation with family and playing with other children in a 3-acre pond near the 300 block of Silica Road Northwest, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office social media post.

Sheriff’s deputies were called at around 8:30 p.m., along with Grant County Fire District 3 and Protection-1 LLC crews.

They, family and others searched the pond for more than an hour without finding her. An Airlift Northwest helicopter also searched from the sky.

Firefighters then used hand tools to take apart a flange joint on a siphon pipe, part of a waterfall in the pond, and found the girl’s body. Firefighters had to use power tools to continue to disassemble the pipe to recover the body, which they did around 10:45 p.m.

The possible cause of death is accidental, but the Grant County Coroner’s staff will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.