8-Year-Old Girl Found Deceased in Narrow Hotel Pool Pipe
Posted March 27, 2024 by: Admin
An unfortunate incident unfolded at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Houston Brookhollow, Texas, resulting in the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl. Aliyah Jaico, along with her family, were guests at the hotel when the incident occurred on March 23rd. Despite a swim in the hotel’s lazy river style pool, Aliyah was reported missing at 5.45pm when her family couldn’t locate her on the premises.
Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, and his team were called in to assist in the search efforts. Despite extensive searches both inside and outside the hotel premises, Aliyah seemed to have vanished without a trace. The Houston Fire Department inspected the pool’s pipes, each approximately one foot wide, but initially found no sign of the missing girl.
Police and Miller’s search and rescue organization reviewed the hotel’s security footage, which revealed that Aliyah had disappeared underwater and had not resurfaced. Eventually, a small remote camera provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was used to explore the pipes, revealing Aliyah’s body wedged approximately 20 feet deep into one of them.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science reported Aliyah’s cause of death as ‘drowning and mechanical asphyxia’. As a result, the hotel’s pool was closed pending corrections of identified violations, including issues with the drains. Houston Health Department officials noted that the pool had last been inspected in June 2023.
The recovery of Aliyah’s body marked a deeply emotional moment for the rescue team, prompting reflections on the grieving process for her family. Hilton, while expressing condolences, clarified that the property operates independently and does not directly manage day-to-day operations.
Efforts to obtain comments from legal representatives of DoubleTree by Hilton in Houston Brookhollow are ongoing.
