08/06/2026
Salt Lake City, Utah — Preslee's parents had not had a night to themselves in a long time. When grandparents offered to watch the 18-month-old so Ashley and her husband could see a movie, they didn't hesitate.
Preslee ran straight for her older cousins the second the couple walked through the door, barely stopping for a hug.
Ashley figured it would be a couple of easy hours. It wasn't.
On the drive home, her husband answered a call from a number neither of them recognized. His voice changed immediately. He made a U-turn and ran a red light. The caller was an old family friend, now a police officer, who had heard their names over his radio — someone was being airlifted to the hospital. They already knew.
A doctor met them with the news: Preslee had fallen into a canal near her grandparents' home, and no one could say how long she'd been in the water. Ashley was led through a room full of doctors and nurses to her daughter's side. Preslee had no color left in her skin.
The team worked to warm her body while Ashley spoke to her nonstop, exactly as she'd been told to. Minutes later, a heartbeat returned.
Preslee was airlifted to a children's hospital in another state. Her parents stayed by her side for six days. Then came the diagnosis no parent is prepared to hear — no remaining brain activity, with no chance of recovery. She died the next day, in her mother's arms.
It took years for the full story to come together. Ten adults and five children had been at the house that night. Unexpected guests arrived. A bag of popcorn caught fire, and the children ran outside — and in that chaos, Preslee slipped past everyone toward the canal behind the yard.
Her uncle followed the canal on foot for a mile and a half before finding a farmer who had already pulled Preslee from the water and begun CPR. Just downstream, that same canal opens into a much larger river.
Ashley believes there's a real chance her daughter would never have been found.
Every summer since, she has told Preslee's story publicly, hoping it reaches other parents before tragedy does. Her lesson, she says, is simple: never assume someone else has an eye on the kids — not even for a minute.
