FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Police have identified the 7-year-old Fort Wayne, Indiana girl who died after she and her brother fell into a sand hole on a Florida beach and got trapped Tuesday afternoon.
According to NBC affiliate, WTVJ, Sloan Mattingly was identified as the girl who died Tuesday, and her 9-year-old brother, Maddox Mattingly, was critically injured.
Emergency crews were called to the 4400 block of El Mar Drive, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, around 3:15 p.m. Feb. 20 to a massive sand hole. That's roughly five miles north of Fort Lauderdale.
The children and their parents were on vacation from Indiana, and the children were digging in the sand when they became trapped, detectives with the Broward County Sheriff's Department said.
Rescuers used boards to keep more sand from collapsing as they worked to dig the children out, a Pompano Beach Fire Rescue spokesperson said, according to WTVJ.
The children were rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and Sloan later died. NBC affiliate WPTA reports Maddox's condition is now "stable."
In a statement shared with families, the principal of Lafayette Meadows Elementary School in Allen County, Indiana, described Sloan as "a bright, sweet, loving 1st grade student."
The incident is still under investigation.
NOTE: The Broward County Sheriff's Office initially said Sloan Mattingly was 5 years old but later corrected that she was 7.
