Christmas miracle: Missouri police rescue infant left to drown in icy pond

Monday a man named Jonathon Zicarelli walked into a police station in Greenwood, Missouri and announced, in flat tones, that he had just drowned his 6-month-old daughter in a pond. Zicarelli later told police he was stressed about money and wanted to take some of the pressure off his wife. He had driven to the pond with his daughter and then walked from the car to the pond three times trying to decide if he could go through with it. He finally pushed the daughter in and waited until she sank out of sight before driving himself to the police station to confess. Police Chief Greg Hallgrimson and Cpl. Tom Calhoun got the location from Zicarelli and rushed to the pond. The Kansas City Star relates what happened next:

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Hallgrimson and Calhoun arrived to a grim scene: The unconscious body of an infant floating face up — her lungs filled with water — out in the murky pond.

Calhoun waded hard into the thigh-deep water in his black police uniform, Kevlar vest and boots, to retrieve the child.

He said the child appeared lethargic, her eyes wide and black, her skin a lifeless color. She had mud in her eyes and grass and water in her mouth. They would estimate she’d been in the water more than 10 minutes.

Calhoun rushed her cold body to the bank, cleared the water from her lungs and began CPR.

In moments, [police Lt. Aaron] Fordham said, the infant breathed again.

“There was absolutely someone watching over that child today,” he said.

They stripped off the baby’s wet clothes and Chief Hallgrimson took off his shirt and wrapped her in it. Paramedics arrived and took her to a nearby hospital. When she arrived her temperature was recorded as 87.9 degrees, severe hypothermia. Later in the day, the hospital reported she was in stable condition and improving. People are calling it a miracle, but obviously, a lot of credit goes to the police who reacted quickly and got to the child before it was too late.

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Jonathon Zicarelli has been charged with first-degree domestic assault and given a bond of $500,000. He’s facing up to three decades in prison if convicted. Child protective services is also involved in the case. Here’s a local news report from Fox4kc.

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