VIERA, Florida – After an extensive search on Monday afternoon for a missing 4-year-old boy, Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies have located the boy’s body in a pond near his home on Ayshire Circle in Viera, Florida.
As the above map shows, the entire Villages of South Solerno neighborhood located off of Stadium Parkway is pocketed with several retention ponds.
Florida loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state, according to the Florida Department of Health. Annually in Florida, enough children to fill three to four preschool classrooms drown and do not live to see their fifth birthday.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, drowning is a leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4. For toddlers (children ages 1 to 4 years), swimming pools pose the greatest risk of submersion injury.
In 2013, Florida had the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 1–4 year old age group with a drowning rate of 7.54 per 100,000 population. Brevard County has nearly twice the statewide rate of unintentional drownings.
