Autopsy results reveal how missing Prosser girl likely died

Investigators believe a Prosser girl’s death after she was pulled from a Sunnyside irrigation canal two weeks ago was an accident.

An autopsy confirmed that Isabella Trinidad Flores drowned in the Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District’s main canal on April 10, said Benton County Coroner Bill Leach.

Benton County Sheriff’s Sgt. Horacio Gonzalez confirmed the evidence points to her death being accidental, though investigators are still finishing up their reports.

Isabella Flores Trinidad, 7, who was deaf, was playing outside on a 4-acre property on the 130000 block of Taylor Road when she disappeared about 1:20 p.m.

Her grandmother was watching the girl when she stepped inside her home briefly to put something on the stove, according to a GoFundMe organized on behalf of the girl’s mother. When Flores’ grandmother came back out, the girl was gone.

Family members searched for her and called the sheriff’s office for help. Deputies scoured the property using drones and police dogs, but weren’t able to find her.

Gonzalez said the water in the canal which runs through the property was moving fast enough to sweep her about two miles away.

An irrigation district employee spotted her body about an hour later in the canal near King Tull Road.

A deputy jumped into the water and pulled Flores to the bank, but she was later pronounced dead at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

The 60-mile main canal carries water from Union Gap to Whistran. Irrigation officials had recently started filling the canal.

Pasco school student

While Flores lived in Prosser, she attended classes at Rowena Chess Elementary School in Pasco as part of a special program for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“This is a heartbreaking loss for her family, classmates, and our entire school community. Our thoughts are with Isabella’s family during this incredibly difficult time,” said the Pasco School District.

Both her parents also are deaf. It’s not clear where her father was at the time, but her mother, Sayra Trinidad, had been in the Benton County jail after being arrested on harassment charges.

While her bail was initially set at $25,000, she was released on her own recognizance days after Flores’ death.

Multiple GoFundMe accounts were organized to help cover funeral costs. One, organized by Destiny Vargas, who described herself as the girl’s aunt, said Washington state Child Protective Services had taken other siblings from their father’s care.

Vargas’ GoFundMe, which called for money to pay for legal expenses, has since been removed.

It’s not clear if the other children have been returned to their parents’ care.