Missing 8-year-old drowned in murky hotel pool searched several times, Ohio cops say

Hours after an 8-year-old boy went missing from a northern Ohio Holiday Inn, his body was discovered in the murky waters of the hotel pool, police say.

The Strongsville Police Department received a call at 2:46 p.m. Monday stating 8-year-old Christopher Johnson went missing from the town’s Holiday Inn on Royalton Road. Strongsville is a suburb of Cleveland.

The police department posted on Facebook at 3:31 p.m. about the disappearance and later said multiple agencies responded to help find the boy.

Christopher, who has disabilities, was found dead in the pool late that night, police said.

The pool waters were checked multiple times but it was so murky that the bottom could not be seen, according to WJW. The hotel room and pool were “thoroughly checked” by 3:10 p.m. and an officer suggested focusing on other areas in the search, WJW reported, citing a call log.

Christopher was found just before midnight, having drowned in the pool, according to WJW.

It’s unclear how long he was in the pool.

The incident remains under investigation, Strongsville police said Tuesday morning.

This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Missing 8-year-old drowned in murky hotel pool searched several times, Ohio cops say."