Crime & Safety
Child Dies In House Fire Trying To Save Dogs: Sheriff
11-year-old Rilee Beisler died trying to rescue her dogs from a house fire at the Sun N Fun Resort Wednesday.
Updated: 11:45 a.m., Friday
SARASOTA, FL — An 11-year-old girl died while trying to rescue her dogs from a house fire at the Sun N Fun Resort Wednesday, the Sarasota police shared in a news release on Facebook.
Police said they received multiple 911 calls around 5:45 p.m. when the fire broke out in two homes in the 1100 block of Iowa Street.
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Witnesses reported seeing a young girl, later identified as Rilee Beisler, enter one of the homes. Though bystanders tried to help, she never exited the home, police said.
Witnesses told police that she may have been trying to save her dogs from the fire.
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The State Fire Marshal is investigating the fire, while Sarasota detectives investigate Rilee’s death in partnership with the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Police said the fire doesn’t “seem criminal in nature” and they believe Rilee died of smoke inhalation.
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