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Boy At Fall River Pool Says He Told Lifeguard 'Someone Is Drowning'

FALL RIVER (CBS) - When 36-year-old Marie Joseph went into the water Sunday at Veterans Memorial pool her young neighbor says he tried to speak up.

"My grandson says he went down to the slide. Marie came down behind him," said his grandmother Laverne Hunt. "He was stuck a little bit but he got out and he went to the lifeguard and said someone is drowning, and they didn't do anything."

Joseph drowned in the public pool in Fall River Sunday. Her body remained unnoticed at the bottom of the pool until Tuesday.

Hunt says her 9-year-old grandson is devastated he couldn't do more to save Joseph.

"He's going to have some problems. He's crying all the time."

Hunt said her grandson has trouble sleeping and his mother took him to see a counselor Saturday afternoon.

"Why should my grandson have to suffer if someone else was negligent. That's not right. He went and did what he was supposed to do."

WBZ-TV's Alana Gomez reports

The entire pool staff is on leave, along with two city inspectors who checked the pool Monday and Tuesday.

Joseph's friends say they're most upset with the lifeguards, who allegedly heard that someone went under.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports

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"She probably wouldn't have died if they had been doing her job," said Veronica Reis, a neighbor and friend of Joseph's.

On Saturday, the pool remained closed with an Environmental Police officer guarding the entrance.

A makeshift memorial with balloons, candles, and cards decorated the gate outside.

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