8-year-old boy dies in swimming pool

Jason Combs said Saturday was an unusual day for he and others at the Vista Ventana Spa & Resort in Desert Hot Springs.

“Like it’s under a mushroom, just quiet,” he said. “Usually on a Saturday and Sunday, everyone’s getting up, ‘Hey, good morning.’ Having a cup of coffee. Kids are swimming already in the pool. You usually wake up with a positive attitude. But this time, none of us really wanted to wake up.”

He and others were at the pool at the extended stay-hotel for a party, where 8-year-old Issac Moore drowned.

Desert Hot Springs Police Officers were called to the hotel around 10:30 p.m., where they found Moore unresponsive in a swimming pool.

Hotel management told KESQ and CBS Local 2 Moore was in the pool playing a game with other children.

Others staying at the hotel like Anthony Knox said he remembers running into Moore before he drowned.

“I handed him a balloon, a couple of balloons,” Knox said. “He was throwing them at each other. They were having fun, and then all of a sudden, that just happened.”

Combs recalls the moments before finding out about Moore.

“I was in the hotel, when the music that was playing suddenly shut off,” Combs said. “It’s pretty odd for a system to be shut off in the middle of the party. My kids were like, ‘Dad, what’s going on? The music is shut off.’ One of the kids opened the door, ‘Dad, somebody fell. Something happened.”

Combs said his son dove into the pool to bring Moore out of the water. After getting him out, he said he a woman started performing CPR and other exercises on the boy to try and save his life.

“You always watch the movies when you do that, and the parents start freaking out,” Combs said. “People start crying, and all of a sudden the victim starts shooting water out of their mouths, and then they’re okay. And we were waiting for that. We wanted to see that, and when it didn’t happen, it kind of just throws you off. You don’t know what to do.”

First responders later pronounced Moore dead after taking him to a local hospital.

For Combs and Knox, their thoughts are now with Moore’s family.

“You wake up, you get an invitation to a party, you go to a party, you expect to have a good time and go home, and everything’s great,” Combs said. “Can you imagine going to a party and your child dies?”

Management also called Moore’s drowning “a horrible accident,” and said they were very sorry about what happened.

Knox said he plans on making t-shirts in Moore’s memory.

The family has also set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expense. For that link, click here.

Officers believe this incident was an accident but are investigating. If anyone has any information, officials are asking the public to call Detective Tooth with DHSPD at (760) 329-9411 x352.