South Dakota AG says DCI will investigate 'disturbance' at State Penitentiary

'It literally happened in 30 seconds': Mother talks of 5-year-old daughter's drowning at Falls Park

Courtney Jayne talks about her daughter Maggie Zaiger Thursday, July 26, at Robins Kaplan in Sioux Falls. Jayne is filing a lawsuit against the city of Sioux Falls after her daughter Maggie Zaiger drown at Falls Park last spring.

Update July 26: The family of Maggie Zaiger has sued the city.

Ten minutes wasn't long enough for Courtney Jayne to learn about Falls Park on Sunday.

This was her first time at the popular Sioux Falls landmark – her first time in South Dakota, for that matter.

She didn't know that phosphorus in the water and the agitation of the falls can combine to build up an enormous pile of foam in the Big Sioux River.

She didn't know that two people had drowned at Falls Park five years ago on a day much like Sunday, in nearly the same spot where she and her family and friends were walking, including 5-year-old daughter, Maggie Zaiger.

The young mother also didn't know that Maggie – thinking of safe, solid snow, perhaps –would suddenly decide to lean over and try to touch the pile of foam.

By the time Courtney Jayne had all those facts at her disposal, her daughter was gone.

"It wasn't that we weren't paying attention," Jayne told Argus Leader Media on Monday, a day after rescue swimmers entered the water and found 5-year-old Zaiger unresponsive. They began CPR and she was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

"There were seven of us. It literally happened in 30 seconds," added Jayne, who was visiting from Audubon, Iowa. "There was nothing we could do, and it was horrible."

Just like that, "the most amazing, perfect little girl" who loved gymnastics and doing cartwheels was gone. She leaves behind two sisters, 10-year-old Grace and 4-year-old Myah.

"Her and Myah aren't even a whole year apart," Jayne said. "I'm terrified for (Myah). She's had her built-in best friend since the day she was born, and now she's gone."

Maggie Zaiger, 5, drowned at Falls Park on Sunday after reaching to touch the foam.

The family had come up to South Dakota with a friend and had been in Sioux Falls for a few days. Falls Park was a last-minute stop before the trip back home.

Later, as she was grappling with the loss of Maggie, someone tagged Jayne in a Facebook post about the March 2013 deaths of Madison Wallace and Lyle Eagletail.

They drowned when they jumped in attempting to save a 6-year-old boy who had fallen in around the same area of the falls where foam was collecting. The boy was rescued, but Wallace and Eagletail died. 

Shortly after that incident, city officials weighed additional safety measures — including fences — in an effort to prevent another tragedy. In the end, signs were placed warning people of getting too close to the edge.

"This could have been prevented five years ago when they decided to put up a sign instead of a fence," Jayne said. “I could’ve prevented it in a million different ways, but ultimately those are things that we cannot control. But we can control a fence.”

Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Director Don Kearney said Monday that a safety review after the 2013 drownings cautioned against a fence, saying it could "impede public safety's ability to respond quickly." But it will be one of the things the city considers as it revisits safety once more following this drowning.

Jayne said that immediately after Maggie fell into the river, she climbed down the rocks into the foam and tried to find her.

Courtney Jayne posted pictures of her clothes -- muddy from trying to save her daughter, who drowned in Falls Park. She said she will never wear the clothes again.

She got her feet in the water and felt around trying to find the bottom, but couldn't. She emerged from the foam to find a group of 25 onlookers who told her not to jump into the water.

Jayne stayed there, continuing to look for Maggie, until police arrived and dragged her away.

More:From the archives: More signs, not more fencing at Falls Park

“She was so smart, wise beyond her years," Jayne said. "It never even occurred to me to scream 'Maggie, don’t go by the water.' It happened before that thought could even enter my mind.”

Fire Chief Brad Goodroad said authorities found Zaiger nine minutes after arriving on scene. It took five minutes for responders to arrive after the first call.

Now Jayne's mind is filled with a mix of guilt, anger and memories of the little girl whose favorite food was spaghetti, even though she hated both tomatoes and noodles.

"I think that people fail to realize a death like this doesn't really hit you until the first time I go to get my kids up for school and she's not there," Jayne said. “Right now I know that she’s gone, but the last day of school, the first day of school, she’s not going to be there. Her birthday, that’s all yet to come.”

Jayne said she hasn't read any social media comments attached to news stories about her daughter's death. But she's aware that people have criticized her, saying she should have been paying more attention when Maggie fell in.

“I’ve been that parent, where you see that story on Facebook and you think, 'How the hell did they let that happen?'" Jayne said. "You're so judgmental. And in four seconds I became that parent. There are no words they can ever say that will hurt as deeply as my own thoughts.”

For now, Jayne is back in Iowa, preparing for a funeral and everything else that has to be dealt with in the face of tragedy.

“The saddest part is she was so smart," Jayne said. "I wish she could still be here so I could see what she was going to become.”