Boy drowned in deep water at park

Rescue vehicles at the scene at Olander Park in Sylvania.

An 8-year-old boy who was pulled Saturday evening from the lake at Sylvania’s Olander Park drowned in a deep-water area, authorities said.

Steve Kahle, a Lucas County coroner’s investigator, said Monday that Mustafa Ali was pronounced dead at 8:58 p.m. Saturday in ProMedica Toledo Hospital. Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, a deputy coroner who did the autopsy on the boy, said the cause of death was drowning.

Dr. Barnett said the child was at the park, swimming in the lake with two brothers and several cousins when the incident occurred. Some of the kids were swimming in the no-swim area and were told to return to the proper swim area.

Parents reported last seeing the boy at 3:30 p.m., she said. They began to look for him at 4 p.m., then contacted the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office.

At some point, witnesses reported seeing a child dressed like the victim coming out of the restroom, the deputy coroner said, and it was thought that he wasn’t in the water. Later, the parents of the missing boy saw that child and realized it wasn’‍t their son who witnesses saw, which is when the dive teams got involved, she said.

The boy was brought to shore by divers from multiple agencies about 8:25 p.m. Saturday, then rushed by Life Squad to the hospital. He was reported missing by his family about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Sylvania Police Chief William Rhodus said the boy was pulled out north of the restricted area on the west side of the lake, where the lake is deep.

The drowning death is the fourth since 1981 for the park district.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.