Police have identified the young girl and her older brother who fell into a sand hole and got trapped Tuesday at a beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Sloan Mattingly was identified Wednesday as the 7-year-old girl who died, and 9-year-old Maddox Mattingly is her older brother who was critically injured.
Broward Sheriff’s deputies and paramedics responded after 3:16 p.m. to the 4400 block of El Mar Drive, where footage from Chopper 6 showed crowds of people standing around a massive sand hole that was roped off.
Detectives say the children and their parents were on vacation from Indiana — and that the children were digging a hole in the sand when they became trapped.
The two children were taken to the hospital in critical condition. BSO later confirmed that the girl died.
The circumstances into this incident remain under investigation, according to BSO.
Editor’s note: BSO initially reported that the girl who died was 5 years old, but later corrected that she was 7 years old.