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A Utah family is mourning the loss of a little girl who died on vacation while swimming.
Five-year-old Linnea Rose Oldham of Snyderville Basin was playing in a wading pool in Mexico Jan. 15. Her mother was just yards away but couldn't prevent the tragedy. Family members tell the Park Record the water wasn't deep; Linnea could stand up in it. But she put her head underwater and her mouth got too close to the suction drain at the bottom of the pool. Her family says she choked to death as she was stuck to the drain.
The family is talking about the tragedy as pools and spas around Utah are still getting into compliance with a federal law requiring safer drain covers. Federal law requires all pools in the United States to get rid of those types of drains this year.
The Park Record reports the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act was passed after something similar happened about seven years ago to the granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
