FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP/WANE) — A family from Fort Wayne is mourning the loss of a 7-year-old girl who died Tuesday when sand collapsed on top of her and her brother at a Florida beach.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office identified the girl as Sloan Mattingly, who was playing on the beach with her 9-year-old brother Maddox Mattingly when they got trapped.
They were digging a deep hole when the sand collapsed on them both at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, authorities said.
Emergency crews responding around 3 p.m. found the boy buried up to his chest in sand, said Sandra King, a spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue.
The girl was completely buried underneath the boy, King told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The hole was 5 or 6 feet (1.8 meters) deep when the collapse happened, she said.
Rescuers used support boards to keep more sand from collapsing in as they used shovels to dig the children out, King said. She didn’t know how long they were buried.
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Investigators on the beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla., take photos of the scene of a sand collapse on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. A young girl was buried in sand and died Tuesday when a deep hole she was digging with a little boy collapsed on them both at a south Florida beach, authorities said. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) -
A pail rests next to caution tape on a beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla., on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. A young girl was buried in sand and died Tuesday when a deep hole she was digging with a little boy collapsed on them both at a south Florida beach, authorities said. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
The sheriff’s office said the Hoosier family – the sister, brother and their parents – was on vacation at the beach.
The girl was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, where she was pronounced dead, King said. The boy was hospitalized in stable condition.
It wasn’t immediately known whether an adult was helping the children dig the hole.
Fort Wayne company D&S Interiors, owned by Jason Mattingly, the girl’s father, posted on Facebook asking customers for their patience as they deal with the loss of their daughter.
Jason Mattingly told WANE 15 Sloan was “full of love and life” and “always smiling.”
Lafayette Meadows Elementary School in Roanoke released a statement Wednesday:
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letting you know we lost a precious member of the Lafayette Meadows school family. Sloan Mattingly was a bright, sweet, loving 1st grade student in Ms. Vanbrocklin’s class. Sloan passed away on Tuesday. We will be talking with Ms. Vanbrocklin’s class, as well as Ms. Kilbourne’s class, as Sloan’s brother is a member of that classroom, on Thursday.
Our administration team and counselors have support resources available for any student or staff member who is in need during this time of loss. Please be sure to communicate any concerns with myself, Mr. Kowalski, Ms. Blackburn or Ms. Tanesky so we can support students as needed.
Please keep the Mattingly family in your thoughts and prayers. They have requested privacy at this time. We will pass along any further information the family wishes to share.
Principal Jenny Fedele
Editor’s note: The Broward County Sheriff’s Office initially identified Sloan as 5 years old; her father, Jason Mattingly, confirmed to WANE 15 she was 7.
