'Adventurous' sisters aged five and eight BOTH drown after sneaking into neighbor's swimming pool

By JOE HUTCHISON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:20, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 21:20, 9 June 2026 Two 'adventurous' sisters drowned after sneaking into a neighbor's swimming pool, police said.  The unidentified girls, aged five and eight, were found unresponsive in the pool on Monday at a home on Gerhardt Drive in Pensacola, Florida.  On Tuesday, police chief Eric Winstrom said that it was believed that the older sister climbed a fence into the property before letting her sister through a gate.  He told a press conference: 'Not only do they have a privacy fence for the backyard, they have a fence for the pool specifically to keep young kids out.' Winstrom said the neighbors were not at home at the time and that the yard was 'exactly what a safe backyard with a swimming pool would look like.' The girls were given lifesaving measures after the authorities were called before being rushed to a hospital, both were pronounced dead. Speculating on what happened in the pool he said: 'Is it possible that the younger one fell in and was struggling and the 8-year-old went in and tried to save her?"   The young girls, aged five and eight, were found unresponsive in the pool on Monday at a home on Gerhardt Drive in Pensacola, Florida On Tuesday, police chief Eric Winstrom said that it was believed that the older sister climbed a fence into the property before letting her sister through a gate The girls were given lifesaving measures after the authorities were called before being rushed to a hospital, both were pronounced dead 'If we were going through the possibilities, it's very possible the 8-year-old passed while trying to save her 5-year-old sister who was a less-proficient swimmer. I think that's a real possibility.' They were spotted walking around the neighborhood an hour before they were found in the pool, Winstrom added.  He continued: 'From a police investigation point of view, that's certainly helpful to know that there's no foul play, as far as no one was leading them to this pool, no one was trying to abduct them or anything.' Winstrom said he does not expect criminal charges to be filed, adding: 'All the adults that are involved in this incident did the right thing and it still ended in tragedy. 'So I don't anticipate any criminal charges in this case. But this is preliminary.' His department are continuing to investigate with autopsy results yet to be released to them.  The local medical examiners office said their investigation was still pending when approached for comment by the Daily Mail.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.