Update: 11:27a
The Collier County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that a Naples father died Thursday evening while trying to save his four-year-old autistic son.
Witnesses and family members say the father, Ali Asif, was seen floating face down in the Everly Apartment complex's pond.
Upon first arriving on scene, deputies say the water was too murky to locate Asif.
A dive team was called in, Asif was located, and firefighters began CPR.
Investigators say Asif was underwater for approximately 25 minutes.
The local father was transported to Physicans Regional Pine Ridge where he was pronounced deceased.
The events before the local father died, according to a Collier County Sheriff's Office report:
The boy's aunt, Sidney Khalid, tells deputies Ara Asif is non-verbal autistic, and got out of the apartment without the family noticing.
Once they were unable to find him, a search began and the child was found floating in the pond. Khalid told investigators that Ali Asif immediately jumped into the water to save his son - but was unable to due to an inability to swim.
Khalid was able to get the child to the shoreline, but could not locate his father.
She began CPR on her nephew and was able to resuscitate him.
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Original Reporting (Friday, May 24th):
A person died Thursday night trying to rescue a child from a Naples pond.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office says it happened on Magnolia Pond Dr. at the Everly Apartment complex in Naples.
They say a child went into the water and the adult went in to help. Both had to be pulled out and were taken to the hospital.
The sheriff's office says the child survived but the adult did not.
This is a developing story and we will update it as soon was we get more information.
