KATY, Texas – It's been a large, unsightly nuisance for almost as long as it's been here.
"We've had a problem with kids going back there partying, drugs, alcohol, things like that," said Stuart McCarty, a neighbor to a water-filled sandpit in a Katy subdivision.
"A person has been killed, or committed suicide, I'm not sure which one," said resident Erik Hansen. "But there's actually a cross out here, a memorial to somebody."
Law enforcement and emergency responders said what's on the other side of fences and no trespassing signs in Katy isn't just a nuisance anymore. For teenagers and others in the area it's becoming a danger.
There were two rescues this past weekend inside the sandpit behind the Autumn Run subdivision in Katy, near FM 529 and Barker Cypress. Locals refer to it as "the pit," or Autumn Run Lake.
In one incident a girl was seriously injured jumping off a cliff into the water.
A teenaged boy had to be rescued in a separate incident this weekend after doing the same thing.
"There's gates that are left open," said Hansen. "There's trails that are very easily accessible through the neighborhood. There's just a whole row of privacy fences here that have been knocked over since Hurricane Ike."
Residents said more than a decade ago a developer had planned to build lakefront homes on the property. Contractors dug a lake and hit a water table that filled it with natural spring water. But plans fell through and the land has been sold several times since.
But the property apparently still is very attractive. People have found a way to use it, even if it means risking bodily harm.
In addition to the two rescues over the weekend, the Cy Fair Volunteer Fire Department said there have been several others in the past year.
