MADRID, Spain – Spanish police have found the body of the mother of a seven-year-old British girl who is critically ill after falling from the fifth floor of a hotel on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, officials said Wednesday.
The body of Sara Cooper, 45, was found at around 4:45pm (1445 GMT) in a seaside cave in Cala Domingos, an Interior Ministry spokesman told The Associated Press.
A land and sea search initially led to clothing floating in water thought to belong to Cooper. The find led police to a beach-side cave on the eastern end of the Balearic island, the spokesman said speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry rules.
The child, who fell from a balcony on Monday was operated on for three hours and was in serious but stable condition at Son Dureta Hospital in Mallorca, said father Ian Cooper, 44, in a statement released through the British consulate.
"This is a very difficult time for me and my family and although we understand the media interest in our situation, we would greatly appreciate it if we could be allowed the privacy to concentrate on the recovery of my daughter, Gianna," Mr. Cooper said.
Police are working on an initial hypothesis that Cooper may have fallen into the water after her daughter's accident the spokesman said.
Cooper is believed to have been in the same room as the child when the fall happened. The child suffered several injures including a broken jaw and liver damage.
The father and two other children were in an adjacent room at the time of the accident, police said.
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