Sheriff’s office: Missing Stafford Co. 3-year-old dies in ‘tragic accident’

A 3-year-old girl has died after she was found in a small body of water near her Stafford County, Virginia, home Thursday, according to the county sheriff’s office.

Munawar Hadi was reported missing by her family around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, after they could not locate her for about an hour. When deputies showed up to the Rappahannock Landing subdivision, they canvassed neighboring homes, received tips from the community and flew a drone overhead in the search for Hadi.

Munawar Hadi was reported missing by her family around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. (Courtesy Stafford County Sheriff’s Office)

She was found in a small body of water about a half-mile away from her home just after 7 p.m. A deputy performed CPR on the scene and Hadi was taken to the hospital, where staff tried to save her for over an hour before she was pronounced dead.

The sheriff’s office is still looking into what happened, but said it “appears to be a tragic accident.”

“There are no words to describe our grief at this devastating outcome. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victim’s family during this difficult time,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “We would like to thank everyone who provided tips, Ring video, and who joined us in our search.”
Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

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