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CNN Live Today
Investigation Continues into Paolo Ayala's Death
Aired June 05, 2002 - 10:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is news from California about the death of a 7-year-old boy in Los Angeles that's raising a lot of questions. Investigators are hoping now that an autopsy will help reveal what actually happened to Paolo Ayala.
Affiliate KTTV and reporter Jane Yamamoto (ph) have the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAEED FARKHONDHPOUR, HOMEOWNER: Housekeeper came up to my bedroom, said, sir, the little boy is at the bottom of the pool. And I went, oh no, oh no.
JANE YAMAMOTO, KTTV REPORTER (voice-over): Saeed Farkhondhpour says total chaos broke out inside his house when his housekeeper made the gruesome discovery. By the time firefighters arrived, they found the body of 7-year-old Paolo Ayala face up at the bottom of the pool. The same pool he was last seen swimming in during his classmate's birthday party on Sunday afternoon.
FARKHONDHPOUR: All along I've been saying that there is no way the kid would have just walked out.
YAMAMOTO: Paolo's disappearance set off a massive search. Parents canvassed the area with flyers, bloodhounds tracked down a scent that lead to nearby Holmby Park. Late Monday night, police moved their command post several blocks away from the home where the body was found.
DEP. CHIEF DAVID KALISH, LOS ANGELES POLICE: At some time during the evening, early morning hours, somebody placed that body in the swimming pool.
YAMAMOTO: But after the coroner arrived and the body was removed, the investigation took another strange turn.
KALISH: Is it possible that this small child had been in the pool this entire time? It's possible.
YAMAMOTO: A possibility that suddenly raised many questions. Was Paolo Ayala's body in the pool the entire time and investigators simply didn't see it?
KALISH: It begs the question, you know, how could you miss it? And that's what we're struggling with now, when so many people were in the backyard and didn't see it.
FARKHONDHPOUR: I think the body's been there since the party.
YAMAMOTO: Farkhondhpour talked to us inside his home. He says on the day of the disappearance police checked the pool but no one went into the water.
FARKHONDHPOUR: Day of the party, actually, I waked around the pool with a police officer, as a matter of fact, my kids were saying, dad, you can't see the bottom of the pool.
YAMAMOTO (on camera): You cannot?
FARKHONDHPOUR: You cannot.
YAMAMOTO (voice-over): Police say the pool was checked thoroughly. And Farkhondhpour says just yesterday the pool maintenance man came by for a routine check.
FARKHONDHPOUR: He just put the chemicals and he told them that he couldn't see the bottom either.
YAMAMOTO: He says his son is now traumatized over the death of his friend.
FARKHONDHPOUR: This is just a tragedy -- a tragedy. It was accident.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And that report from KTTV and Jane Yamamotto filing that story.
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