Three in family drown in Catoosa utility vehicle accident

photo Three people, a grandmother and two grandchildren, are dead after an ATV accident in Catoosa County.

RINGGOLD, Ga. - Tragedy struck Monday morning when a grandmother and her two grandchildren drowned after she drove a utility vehicle into a pond on the family's 100-acre farm.

"It was like one of those John Deere Gators. It had doors on it," Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said of the vehicle. "It was on its side, and you could barely see [it in the water]."

Family members called the sheriff's department shortly before noon to report they were trying to revive the grandmother and two grandchildren with CPR, Sisk said.

Emergency personnel responded and continued CPR all the way to Erlanger East hospital, he said, where the trio were pronounced dead.

Sisk identified the victims as Renee Monroe, 60; her granddaughter Reagan Cohen, 3; and grandson Jaxson Cohen, 18 months.

"The investigation is ongoing; however, all indications are that it is an accident," Sisk said in a news release. "Please keep this family in your prayers."

For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.

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