WEST NEWBURY, Mass. — The father of a three-year-old girl who drowned in a West Newbury pond on Easter Sunday said he wants answers about his daughter's death.
Police and firefighters rushed to Mill Pond on Sunday shortly before 1 p.m., and found Elizabeth Marie Dayter unresponsive. Despite their efforts to resuscitate her, the little girl was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Joseph Dayter said he isn't blaming anyone for his daughter's drowning, but he hopes the pending autopsy and the ongoing investigation will provide more information.
"Just going through a lot of pain," Joseph Dayter said. "It hurts seeing your child laying there in the bed not breathing, and you just know she's no longer with you."
Dayter has been separated from Elizabeth's mother for about two years, and he had not seen his daughter since her third birthday in October.
Dayter said he learned at the hospital that his daughter had quietly slipped out of a house she was playing in on Mill Pond and fell in the water unnoticed. When the adults realized what had happened, they dialed 911.
"I think her and her little cousin just snuck out the door, and nobody realized they snuck out," he said.
The Essex District Attorney's Office announced on Sunday the drowning was not suspicious but that state and local police continue to investigate the circumstances.
Dayter said he wants the world to know how special his daughter was.
"If you were in a bad mood, she'd brighten you up, make your day better," Dayter said. "She loved being around everybody."