The family of Sloan Mattingly, the Indiana girl who died on a South Florida beach after a deep sand hold collapsed on her and her brother, reveal details about the tragic accident. Sloan and her 9-year-old brother Maddox were digging a 5 to 6 feet deep hole in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea while on vacation with their family when things took a tragic turn. The hole collapsed on her and her brother, where it completely buried Sloan while Maddox was covered up to his neck in the sand. Chris Sloan, Sloan's uncle, recently spoke with KFOR-TV, where he detailed how the first-grader tried to grab her brother's leg while they were stuck. "Later we found out that after the sand had caved, she kept trying to grab up Maddox’s leg to get up out of the sand, and eventually he couldn’t feel her moving anymore," he said. "The sand had been up to his chest, and he was screaming for help, and a lot of people did come and help."

Many beachgoers ran to help the family try to dig through the sand to reach Sloan. The fire department arrived and used support boards to try and keep the surrounding sand from collapsing as they dug the children out. Chris Sloan said that as far as the family knows, Sloan was found unresponsive. The 7-year-old was pronounced dead at the hospital while her brother was in stable condition. Chris Sloan said that he and his family hope that sharing Sloan's story will prevent other families from experiencing this type of tragedy. "This is real. It’s tragic. It’s happened," he said. "We’re working through it, and hopefully nothing like this ever happens to anyone else ever again."

In a GoFundMe set up by a family friend, Sloan's mom, Therese said, "A freak accident happened yesterday while we are here on vacation and it took away our greatest 7.5 years. Don’t tell us you’re sorry for our loss…don’t do that to us. We experienced the purest human being and we are forever changed by her." She continued, "We love you beyond any stretch of the imagination. Our sweet Sloan. What we would give."