A missing 2-year-old girl died after being found unresponsive in a Texas creek just hours after she disappeared from her family's home in San Antonio on Sunday evening.
A spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department told NTD via email Tuesday that officers were dispatched to the 4700 block of Allegheny Drive on the city's Northside around 8 p.m. after relatives reported that the child, identified as Aryana Trevino Martinez, had wandered away from the residence.
Police quickly established a search quadrant and deployed multiple resources to search for the toddler, including K-9 units and air support. The Texas Department of Public Safety also issued an Amber Alert for the missing girl.
The spokesperson said Aryana was found unresponsive in a heavily vegetated area near her home around midnight.
"This is still an active and ongoing investigation, and the family is cooperative," the spokesperson added. "We will provide updates as more information is learned."
A local resident, Anna Mari Ramirez, told the outlet that she and her 22-year-old son, Uriel, assisted in the search for the child and that her son was the one who located Aryana in the creek.
Ramirez said the area was very dark, and the weeds around the creek were nearly as tall as she was, prompting her to stop while her son continued searching. She said her son stood on a rock so he could look over the weeds and was able to find the child in about 15 minutes.
"He said he didn't even think, he just jumped in the creek, not knowing how deep it was, and he just picked her up and just ran out of the water with her," she recalled.
Ramirez said her son and a K-9 police officer who was nearby began doing CPR on the girl before an ambulance transported her to a local hospital.
"My heart goes out to the family, and I was just there praying for a miracle," she said. "I think we all should pray for the family because this is a long grief journey."
The police spokesperson told NTD that the girl was ultimately pronounced dead. An official cause of death has not yet been released. NTD reached out to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office for more information, but a response was not received by publication time.