18-month-old boy drowns in Worcester lake

WORCESTER, Mass. (WHDH) -- An 18-month-old boy drowned in Indian Lake in Worcester on Thursday morning.

The boy’s mother called authorities to report her son missing when she noticed an open door and walked outside to find her son face down in the water.

“Screams, it was just like screams I have never heard before,” said Melissa Moreau, a neighbor.

Police responded to an apartment complex that sits on Indian Lake. Officials said a mother told them she was in her apartment with a friend while her son was playing in the living room.

“Just a few minutes went by when they realized the child was missing. They went on a frantic search and the mother’s friend went into the water immediately and discovered the boy face down in the water. He was discovered within minutes of them searching,” said Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst of the Worcester police department.

Authorities said the mother was on the phone with dispatchers when she learned her son was in the lake.

“I heard them screaming, so I got up and I looked and I seen her coming up with the baby and they had him right there,” said a witness.

Police said the mother’s friend performed CPR on the toddler, but the boy did not survive.

“The friend that was there really reacted very quick. I give her a lot of praise for immediately going into the water without hesitation,” said Hazelhurst.

Police said their investigation is ongoing, but at this point they say that the incident was just a terrible tragedy.