Man found dead in hotel pool

By CARRIE RITCHIE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 9, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Stephen J. Coddington | Times] Patrolman Greg Williams, background center, looks back towards fellow officers with the New Port Richey Police Department as they investigate a drowning at the swimming pool of the Riverside Inn on U.S. Hwy 19 in New Port Richey. The body was discovered by a 9-year-old guest at the hotel.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Nine-year-old Chase Weddle wandered out to the pool at the River Side Inn Wednesday afternoon to see if anyone was enjoying the cool waters where he and his brother had swum the day before.

Instead of floatie-clad children splashing and laughing, he saw a man, motionless at the bottom of the pool.

"He came back in and said 'Someone's laying at the bottom of the pool'," said his mother , Sheree Butler.

She and Brandon Butler, her 14-year-old son, followed him outside. An older couple was calling 911 and several people were standing around. A maintenance worker pulled the man out of the pool and Sheree Butler instructed bystanders in CPR she couldn't do it herself because she'd recently had surgery.

But their efforts couldn't stir the man. He was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m., said New Port Richey Police Officer Greg Williams.

The victim appeared to be in his early 30s but hadn't been identified Wednesday afternoon.

Williams estimated the man had been in the water for at least two hours and said there were no signs of foul play or trauma to the body. The man was wearing a bathing suit and his shoes were on the edge of the pool.

No cause of death was immediately pinpointed.

The man was not a guest at the hotel, Williams said, but he could have been visiting someone who was.

The Butler family arrived at the hotel Tuesday and had planned to stay till next week.

The family just moved to the area from Indiana, so Sheree Butler could breathe easier after her lung surgery four months ago. Indianapolis doctors believed she had cancer, so they removed the upper and lower lobes of her right lung. A week later, they found out the removed parts were benign.

The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville told her she probably has a condition that's easily treatable. So the Butlers packed their bags, sold their house and moved to Port Richey to be closer to family and the clinic. They're staying in hotels while they look for a home - and a fresh start.

But after Wednesday's drowning, Sheree Butler said she thought it would be best to get a refund and find another place to stay.

"The kids are traumatized," said Patrick Butler, Sheree's husband. "We're trying to just talk about it and talk through it. Nine- and 14-year-old kids don't typically see something like that."

Carrie Ritchie can be reached at critchie@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 8, 2007, 20:59:05]