Pool where boy drowned in green, murky water has been investigated in past for the same conditions

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Last Friday, Overland Park Police told media outlets that a six-year-old boy was underwater while his family searched for him for about ten minutes. They said the boy was at the bottom of a green, murky pool at that time.

According to city code compliance records, the Four Winds Apartments pools has previously been investigated for those same conditions.

The pool where the boy was found has been closed since Saturday. Police confirmed with 41 Action News the six year old has died from the injuries he sustained in the pool accident.

As recent as two summers ago, Overland Park code compliance made a special trip to Four Winds Apartments on the complaint of green and murky water in at least one of the two pools at the complex.

Records show a trail of failed inspections.

Click below to see the full reports:

http://media.kshb.com/NWT/pdf/PoolInspection/InspectionActivitiesPP1-0000152.pdf

http://media.kshb.com/NWT/pdf/PoolInspection/InspectionActivitiesPP1-0000153.pdf

http://media.kshb.com/NWT/pdf/PoolInspection/InspectionResults.pdf

http://media.kshb.com/NWT/pdf/PoolInspection/FourWinds-rev.pdf
 

In 2007, the complex was found to be in violation with water chemical levels. In 1998, the pool was closed by the city for a number of reasons, one being a lack of appropriate safety equipment.

The last time the city shut down one of the two pools at the complex was 2002, until Saturday.

However, records show management has voluntarily shut down the pool on a handful of occasions, while remedying a code violation.

41 Action News caught up with resident Frankie Hicks on Friday. She is searching for a new place to live after being disappointed multiple times by complex management.

When she moved in three years ago, Hicks knew something wasn’t right.

“We'd lay by the pool, and I have a hose here. And we wouldn't swim in the pool because we were afraid of it. So, we'd hose off to cool off to cool off on my patio," Hicks said.

She wants to feel safe in her own backyard but says the green, hazy water has returned three summers in a row.

“Other tenants have moved out because it hasn't been fixed. It's not going to get fixed here it needs to come from up above,” Hicks explained.

In fact, two summers ago, she called the health department to investigate. According to Hicks, the pool was shut down for three days after she called.

The property manager at Four Winds Apartments wouldn’t speak with 41 Action News on camera Friday. She promised to put us in touch with the management company. By air time Friday, that hadn’t happened.