ARIZONA NEWS

No foul play in deaths of teenage girls found in Mesa water retention basin, police say

Mar 14, 2023, 10:11 AM

(Twitter File Photo/Mesa Police Department)...

(Twitter File Photo/Mesa Police Department)

(Twitter File Photo/Mesa Police Department)

PHOENIX — The deaths of two teenage girls whose bodies were found in a Mesa water retention basin in January have been ruled accidental, authorities said Tuesday.

The Medical Examiner’s Office determined the girls drowned accidentally “in the setting of acute alcohol intoxication,” the Mesa Police Department said in a press release.

“Right now, there is nothing to say foul play was a factor,” Detective Brandi George said in the release.

Officers responded to a call about a body in the water off Southern Avenue between Higley and Power roads, just northwest Superstition Springs Mall, on Jan. 21, police said.

The bodies of Sitlalli Avelar, 17, and Kamryn Meyers, 15, were discovered a few yards from each other.

The girls had been staying at a nearby group home and were reported as missing/runaways on Jan. 7, police said.

Police said Tuesday the case remains active as they try to figure out what the girls were doing before their bodies were found.

Anybody with information about the case was asked to call Mesa police at 480-644-2211.

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No foul play in deaths of teenage girls found in Mesa water retention basin, police say