A heartbroken dad has paid tribute to his wonderful son who tragically drowned in their neighbor’s pool.
Steven Vines’ son Joey, 6, who was autistic, went missing on Sunday afternoon near Riseley Street in Booragoon, South Perth. He was later found by neighbors, lying unconscious in their swimming pool. Joey was rushed to the hospital but died overnight.
The non-verbal boy was reported missing by his parents at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon. Police said Joey was found unresponsive in a swimming pool in the backyard of a nearby property at about 5:25 pm.
It’s believed the incident occurred after Joey made his way into the neighbor’s backyard and climbed the pool fence. They had earlier urged residents to check their gardens and any outbuildings.
After about 90 minutes of a frantic search for the little boy, the horrified neighbors who owned the pool found the little boy’s naked body underwater. He was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital but tragically died overnight.
The heartbroken Perth father has expressed his anguish over losing his son. He has paid tribute to his “beautiful” son and thanked everyone who helped search for him.
Steven, Joey’s father, said life would never be the same. On his social media account, he wrote: “My six-year-old spectrum three, a nonverbal, autistic, special, special boy drowned today. He was a beautiful little autistic boy.”
He continued: “He couldn’t yell for help because he was non-verbal, thanks to everyone helping. We just wish we could’ve found him quicker. Thanks for all the officers, thanks for everyone for trying, he was a special, special kid…”
“He couldn’t talk but we knew how to communicate with him. We loved him to death and for everyone that was in his life, he melted their hearts, we’re not going to cope. He was a big part of our life,” he added.
Autism is a developmental disorder that impacts the way people behave and interact with others, children with level three autism, like Joey, are often non-verbal and struggle with communication.
Detectives are not treating his death as suspicious. There is no suggestion the owners of the home had anything to do with Joey’s death. The entire place was cordoned off on Sunday while officers investigated, police will prepare a report for the State Coroner.
Mark McGowan, premier of Western Australia, offered his condolences to Joey’s family and said: “Obviously a shocking thing and we were all hoping for the best, but it didn’t turn out that way. So can I pass on all our thoughts to little Joey’s family.”
The Vines family had only moved into their new home in Perth’s southern suburb of Booragoon a week earlier before the tragic incident occurred.
Under WA building regulations, private swimming pools and spas that contain water that’s more than 300mm deep must have a barrier or fence to restrict young children from accessing the water.
The City of Melville also conducts inspections to ensure pools comply with the regulations. According to an inspection conducted in 2020, the pool was up to code.
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