Update Monday, April 22: Police have identified the child as 2-year-old Paislee Champney and have said that her death is believed to be accidental based on a preliminary investigation.
[C]HELSEA — A 2-year-old girl pulled from the First Branch of the White River in Chelsea on Friday afternoon has died, police say.
The girl was transported to Gifford Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, Vermont State Police said in a press release Friday night.
The name of the child is being withheld pending notification of family.
The girl entered the river from behind her home, which is north of the intersection of routes 110 and 113 in Chelsea.
It was unclear how long the girl was in the water before crews found her south of the intersection. The call came in around 1 p.m., Vermont State Police Capt. Roger Farmer told the Valley News earlier Friday afternoon.
The DHART helicopter arrived on scene, but the girl was transported via ambulance to the Randolph hospital. CPR was administered, Farmer said.
Nobody answered at what was believed to be the girl’s home along Route 110 around 5:45 p.m.
The rushing river, running faster and higher than normal because of rain and snowmelt in the Green Mountains this week, could be heard from Route 110.
State police are investigating the event.
Material from a Valley News staff brief was used in this report.
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