PORT ALLEN - A three-year-old girl who left her house when her mother was in the restroom was found in a neighbor's pool and accidentally drowned. 

The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said the girl, who is nonverbal and has autism, was inside with her mother around 4 p.m. Deputies said the woman stepped went to use the restroom and when she returned the girl was nowhere to be found. The girl reportedly exited the home through the garage.

Multiple law enforcement agencies searched through the Antonia Plantation Neighborhood for the girl. She was found in a neighbor's swimming pool and taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

The sheriff's office is investigating but a spokesperson from the sheriff's office says the situation appears to be accidental.

"Our thoughts are with the family as they go through this process here, so it's just... a long journey ahead for this family," Sgt. Landon Groger, a WBRSO public information officer, said. "It's definitely a heartbreaking situation here today... in a split second, these kinds of things can happen."