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Olympic skier Bode Miller’s toddler daughter drowns in pool

Bode Miller participates in a 2015 news conference at the alpine skiing world championships in Beaver Creek, Colo. Authorities say that Miller's 19-month-old daughter, Emeline Miller, died Sunday after paramedics pulled her from a swimming pool in Coto de Caza.
(Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)
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The 19-month-old daughter of U.S. Olympic skier Bode Miller drowned in an Orange County swimming pool, authorities said Monday.

Emeline Miller died at a hospital Sunday, the day after paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive her after the drowning incident.

“We are beyond devastated,” Miller said in an Instagram post that showed several photos of the blond, blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked toddler.

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In a video, Emmy, as she was known, was being kissed on the check by her mother, Morgan, a professional beach volleyball player, as she repeatedly said, “Hi Dada.”

One photo showed her covered in suds in a tub and another showed her smiling as she pushed two baby dolls in a pink stroller on a street with large homes in the background.

“Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this,” Miller said in the post. “Her love, her light, her spirit will never be forgotten. Our little girl loved life and lived it to its fullest every day.”

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The death was under investigation, Orange County sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun said.

Paramedics were called to a home in the upscale enclave of Coto de Caza just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, said Capt. Tony Bommarito of the Orange County Fire Authority.

They tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the girl and rushed her to an emergency room, Bommarito said.

“They had no pulses the whole way,” Bommarito said.

Miller, 40, is the most decorated male U.S. skier with 33 World Cup wins, two overall titles, four world championships and six Olympic medals, including gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games in the super combined. At the 2014 Sochi games, he was the oldest alpine skier — at age 36 — to win a medal.

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Miller, who has three other children, asked for privacy for the family in his Instagram post.

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