STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — Kip Rowe says he'll never forget the image of Stafford County emergency responders desperately pounding on the chest of a toddler who had wandered into the woods and fallen into a pond.
When the alert went out Thursday that 3-year-old Munawar Hadi had disappeared, neighbors frantically ran out to search for her.
Rowe jumped on his ATV and raced through the dense woods around his house.
"I just wish I'd made another turn," he said.
By the time he headed down to a pond just a few hundred yards from his home, deputies had already pulled the little girl out of the water.
“It kills me," Rowe said, the sorrow etched on his face. "I dream about it. And it’s still on my mind. I wasn’t 15 feet from her... when they were giving her CPR."
Stafford sheriff’s deputies say the death of little Munawar near her Rappahannock Landing home appears to be a tragic accident.
There’s a playground less than a block from the brick townhouse the toddler lived in with her mother and father and several siblings. Next to the playground, there's a short path to a spot where the fence is knocked down. The pond is about a half-mile down a private road.
Authorities were back out at the townhouse Friday. Detectives have reviewed Ring video from neighboring homes, and say that while they're still investigating, they haven't found anything so far that leads them to think Munawar's death is suspicious.
Daniel Scott – a father of five himself – lives right next door. He described Munawar as a "very sweet girl."
"[I] see her every morning walking to the bus stop," Scott said. "See her outside playing, stuff like that."
Scores of neighbors turned out to search after her parents reported Munawar missing just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday. They said she was barefoot and wearing all pink.
Deputies with drones and K-9s searched for 2.5 hours before finding her in the pond at about 7:08 p.m.
“They can get away so quickly," neighbor Cydney Eshenour said, with her 9-month-old child strapped tightly to a carrying cradle in front of her. "You never know what’s going on. I feel very badly for the victim’s family and what they’re going through."
Rowe said first responders spent a long time trying to breath air into Munawar. Then doctors at Mary Washington Hospital spent an hour trying to resuscitate, but were unable to bring her back.