SANFORD, Fla. – A mother and father face charges after their 3-year-old child died in the hospital Saturday after being pulled from the water at a Sanford apartment complex, according to police.
Officers were called to The Crosby at Towne Center Apartments, located at 12500 Solstice Loop, on Saturday around 3:14 p.m. in reference to a missing 3-year-old boy who was was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to Sanford police.
Both Seminole County and Sanford Fire Rescue also responded to the scene.
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Police said that the boy’s father, identified as Lester Ortiz, contacted law enforcement and said that his son went missing from the residence and was last seen about 30 minutes prior.
According to an arrest report, when police arrived they met with the boy’s father and mother, identified as Barbara Ruiz, who told officers that the child “has eloped in the past but was found by a neighbor and brought to the apartment complex’s front office where Lester retrieved him.”
Ruiz told police that on Saturday around 2:40 p.m. she was in the bathroom inside of the residence while the child was in the living room. She stated that she heard the sound of a door open or close, so she asked her fifteen-year-old daughter to check the front door. Ruiz advised that her daughter checked the front door, but she didn’t realize that the child had left the residence.
According to the report, Ruiz said that since she was in the bathroom, she called Ortiz on the phone to ask him where he was. Ruiz stated that Ortiz told her that he was in the other bathroom inside of the residence and that the child wasn’t with him. Ruiz told police that she and Ortiz began searching for the missing child, but were unable to locate him.
Ruiz and Ortiz told officers that the child has left the residence on at least three different occasions and during two of those times, he was found by neighbors who brought him to the front office and to their residence.
Police said they noticed that Ortiz had a strong odor of fresh marijuana coming from his clothing, had bloodshot eyes and was sweating profusely.
An officer said they made contact with Ruiz inside of the residence and noticed that she also had bloodshot eyes and that the entire residence had a strong odor of freshly smoked marijuana.
According to the report, police looked inside of the residence, which was in a state of disarray, but did not locate the missing child.
At around 3:33 p.m., “officers observed an unknown object floating in a nearby pond that is located directly behind the couple’s apartment,” according to Sanford police.
Police said they entered the pond and discovered that the unknown object was the missing child.
The boy was taken to a local hospital by the Sanford Fire Department where he was pronounced dead at 4:12 p.m., police said.
According to an arrest report, Ortiz and Ruiz admitted to both having medical marijuana cards and that they “smoke marijuana on a regular basis.”
Police said that probable cause was established to arrest Ortiz and Ruiz.
Ortiz was placed under arrest but received medical attention at a local hospital due to a health concern. Ruiz was placed under arrest and transported to the Seminole County jail without incident, according to the report.
The couple faces charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, Sanford police said.
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