Melrose woman found floating in pool

The Alachua County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a Melrose woman who was found floating in the swimming pool outside her home Wednesday evening.

Ann Pridgen, 57, was found floating face down in the pool by her husband James at about 5 p.m., according to sheriff's spokesman Lt. Steve Maynard.

"This is an apparent drowning, but an autopsy will be performed," Maynard said.

According to deputies, James Pridgen last saw his wife alive about 45 minutes before he found her floating in the pool. She had been smoking a cigarette and floating in a pool chair, James Pridgen told deputies. He also said that when he found her floating, the chair was on the decking on the shallow side of the pool.

James Pridgen told deputies that he jumped into the pool to pull Ann from the water and then the couple's adult son, Jody Pridgen, arrived at the home to pick up a trailer and assisted his father. The father and son reportedly received instructions from a 911 operator on how to perform CPR until an emergency medical crew arrived. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Family members reportedly told deputies that Ann had been having dizzy spells, shortness of breath and numbness in her left hand in the weeks before her death.

Maynard said there were no signs of foul play and that an autopsy is expected to determine whether Pridgen's death was the result of drowning or some other condition.