Milee Beiler left her Rothsville home in the middle of the night with her older brother, as their father slept.

The 4-year-old boy wanted to show his 2-year-old sister some goldfish in a neighbor's fish pond, the children's parents said. Tragically, the little girl fell in the small pond and drowned.

Friday, the children's parents, David Beiler and Jessica Killian, called their daughter their "little angel."

"She loved everything," her father said.

Warwick Township police said they found the toddler after receiving a phone call at 1:10 a.m. Friday from a home at 2140 Main St.

According to Officer Curtis Ochs, the residents of the home said that a 4-year-old neighbor boy had just rung their doorbell and told them he couldn't find his mother or father.

A person at the scene said he thought he saw something in the goldfish pond, so police investigated, Ochs said.

"We discovered (the boy's) 2-year-old sister was floating facedown in the fish pond," he said. "I pulled her out and started CPR, and then handed her off to EMS."

The girl was taken to Ephrata Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead several hours later, Ochs said.

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said an autopsy performed Friday showed the child died from drowning. He ruled her death an accident.

The toddler's home is at 8 Wentling Lane, about five or six houses from where she drowned, police said.

"It looks like the (boy) and the 2-year-old sneaked out of the house while we believe one of the parents was sleeping," Ochs said.

The children apparently walked through dimly lit backyards along a cornfield to get to the pond.

Ochs said police were investigating the death Friday.

The pond is about 4 feet wide by 4 feet long, in a backyard between a home and a detached garage. A small stone wall surrounds the pond.

Killian was at work at a Turkey Hill store in Morgantown when her children left the house.

Beiler, 26, said he put their two children, Milee and David Jr., to bed at 8:30 p.m., but "they kept getting out of bed."

He said he checked on them at one point, gave Milee a hug and said, "I love you" and, "Stay in bed."

Beiler said he thought his children were asleep when he went to bed around 11:30 p.m.

But Killian, 26, said she suspects they might have been feigning sleep.

Killian said she asked her son why he left the house with his sister.

"Mommy, I went and showed Milee the fishes," she said he replied. "Milee got hurt and started crying."

Milee loved big goldfish, and the fish pond had three of them, Killian said.

The little boy has a habit of leaving his home, his parents said. He once pushed an air conditioner out of a window and crawled outside, they said.

However, he generally did not stray from home during the day because he was afraid of some dogs in the neighborhood. That might be why he went outside at night, his mother said.

Beiler and Killian said they thought they had taken every precaution to make sure their son did not leave the house.

They hang their door keys high on a wall so their son can't get them, Killian said. They installed a chain lock high on their back door, too.

But the little boy apparently set up a small movable shelf and possibly a trash can so he could climb up on a chest freezer, his parents said. From there, he could stand and unlock the chain lock.

"I try to be a good parent," Killian said. "I teach them right from wrong. (David Jr.) thought he was doing good. He just wanted to show his sissy the fishes."

Killian said she didn't learn of Milee's death until she pulled into her driveway at 2:30 Friday morning.

She normally gets home from her job by 12:45 a.m. and then checks on her children, she said.

But on Friday she went to Walmart on her way home to do some last-minute birthday shopping for her son, who turned 5 that day.

Killian also bought Milee a stuffed duckling so she would have a present to open, too, she said.

The homeowners where the tragedy occurred declined comment. They exchanged condolences with Beiler and Killian on Friday morning.

Several neighbors said they were saddened by the news.

"I went down and stood there and cried for 15 or 20 minutes," said Tim Minnis, of 4 Wentling Lane, whose 2-year-old son was a playmate of the Beiler children.

Killian said that Milee was a "little princess."

"She was a girlie girl, but she knew how to hold her ground with her brother," she said.

"She loved everything," Beiler said of his daughter. "She loved being outside. She loved the dog. She loved playing."

Killian said she imagines Milee playing in heaven with her friend's daughter, who died in a vehicle accident at the age of 2 in 2005.

She also hopes Beiler's stepbrother, who died two years ago — just days after his own daughter was born — is riding horses with Milee.

Tears welled in Killian's eyes as she walked by a toy that Milee rode tirelessly around her yard.

"We called her our little angel," she said, "and the angel got her wings."

Staff writer Cindy Stauffer contributed to this report.

rrobinson@lnpnews.com