3 children dead after apparent drowning incident at Coney Island beach; mother in custody

NEW YORK - A mother of three young children was being questioned by police on Monday after the kids were found unconscious along the Coney Island shoreline in New York and later died in an apparent drowning.The children were a 3-month-old baby, a 4-year-old girl, and a 7-year-old boy, FOX 5 New York reported, citing police officials.

New York Police Department officers responded to an apartment at around 1:40 a.m. local time after family members called 911 from a different location with concerns that their relative may have harmed her three young children.Officers went to the apartment but no one answered the door, according to the news outlet.

They came across a man in the building who said that he was the father of one of the children. The man also expressed concerns about the safety of the children and told officers that he believed the mother and children were on the boardwalk, police said.Officers began a search for the woman and children on the boardwalk, beach, and streets of Coney Island.

The search lasted about 90 minutes until police got another 911 call directing them to Brighton 6th Street and Riegelmann Boardwalk, where they found the 30-year-old woman but not the children, police said.The woman was soaking wet and barefoot when they picked her up, according to authorities.The NYPD said that is when the search was intensified, including aviation units and harbor units.