When Jarred Canavan returned to his West Palm Beach, Florida, home from a meeting and breakfast on Thanksgiving morning, he made a horrific discovery.
Canavan's twin 1-year-old sons, Leyton and Jaxon, were floating unconscious about 10 feet apart in a backyard swimming pool.
Christina Ansara, the toddlers’ mother, was sleeping inside the home when she was awakened by Canavan’s screams, according to a Department of Children and Families report obtained by the Palm Beach Post.
The report says that Canavan arrived home in unincorporated West Palm Beach around 10 a.m. and found the back door and sliding door open. Canavan went into the boys’ bedroom and found that neither was in their crib.
Canavan stepped into the kitchen and “realized it was in disarray as though the children had been in there,” the report says. Canavan went outside and found the boys in the pool. The report said that Canavan began screaming for someone to call 911 before he pulled the boys out of the pool.
Leyton Canavan was pronounced dead at Wellington Regional Medical Center about 12 hours later. Jaxon Canavan remains on life support and is in "very critical" condition, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
There are no details in the report referring to any lifesaving attempts made on the boys after they were removed from the water.
The parents told DCF investigators that one of the boys had recently tried to get out of his crib, but insisted that neither child had ever managed to do so. Canavan and Ansara also told investigators that the door that the toddlers opened and a gate that they went past were “closed the night prior to the incident so it is unknown how the children managed to get outside.”
The report also says the home has an alarm on the door through which the toddlers exited, but it is unknown if the alarm was working properly.
DCF spokeswoman Michelle Glady said the investigation remains open. No charges have been filed.
An investigator noted that someone called the DCF hotline on the day of the drowning and alleged that both parents were sleeping inside the house but “it was later discovered the father was not home at the time of the incident.”
Attempts to reach Canavan, 32, and Ansara, 30, have been unsuccessful. A Palm Beach Post reporter was told to leave after knocking on the couple’s door on Monday.
Canavan wrote a message Tuesday night on his Facebook page regarding Jaxon’s condition: “So Jaxon continue(s) to make improvements today. Tomorrow he goes for his MRI. God’s already giving him the strength to defy all odds. So let’s keep the prayers going thank you everyone we love you so much! #prayersforjaxon”
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