Pond pump

I'm staying at my friend's house. She has a water feature, with a circulating submerged pump. The liner is old, probably leaks, because the water level drops quickly after filling with a hose, attached to a faucet inside. The setup is another whole story. I filled the pond Sun. and thought I'd be clever and leave the house in the pond for the next fill. In my opinion, starting a siphon is one of the harder tricks to pull off, but by golly, I did it. I never thought by leaving the house in the pond, I'd drain it. I don't know how fast the water drained or much about the pump, or if it automatically shut off or burned up or is clogged. I unplugged it, tried to relocate a reset button, no luck, but I was in panic mode.
When I go back to my house Monday, I'm going to check the information about the pump, and come back next week, will recheck the health of this pump and get it going, or buy a new one and fess up. I haven't told my friend yet. She's in rehab right now doesn't need to hear how stupid I was.
Does anyone have any basic tips to check if the pump is repairable?
I unplugged it, checked the breakers, plugged it back in. The only upside is that without the pump running, the water level stays higher.
Thanks for any help.