Rural Cairo boy drowns in pool

CAIRO, Ill. -- A 5-year-old rural Cairo boy drowned Friday afternoon after he wandered into a next-door neighbor's in-ground pool.

Sidney Pittman, who lived in a community just north of Cairo called Patierdale, was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Cape Girardeau County Coroner Mike Hurst pronounced him dead at 2:25 p.m.

Hurst said the pool ordinarily is empty but had filled with seep water from recent flooding. The pool is enclosed, but the boy climbed in through a broken window, Hurst said.

He said the boy's mother was watching him but had gone in the house briefly.