McDonough County Sheriff’s Office Responds to Drowning in Prairie City, Illinois
MACOMB, IL – A three-year-old juvenile drowned Friday afternoon in a neighbor's koi pond.
McDonough County Deputies along with the Bushnell-Prairie City Fire Department and Lifeguard Ambulance responded to an address on North Cadwalader Street for an unresponsive juvenile male. The child was playing outside with his siblings and neighbor children when he went missing. A neighbor who lives next door to the family's home was working in the yard when he discovered the child face-down in his koi pond. The neighbor pulled the child out and immediately began CPR. The neighbor called 911 while working to save the child, and at the same time, a 911 call came in from the child’s mother to report her child was missing.
Emergency responders arrived within minutes. The male juvenile was pronounced deceased at 5:24 p.m. Friday, March 20, 2026, at McDonough District Hospital, according to McDonough County Coroner Eric Jameson. The McDonough County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The McDonough County Sheriff's Office would like to thank Bushnell-Prairie City Fire Department, Lifeguard Ambulance, and McDonough District Hospital for their efforts - and would also like to commend the neighbor who acted quickly and started CPR right away.
