Authorities have confirmed that a 4-year-old boy from Alabama, who had been reported missing, was found deceased in a backyard swimming pool.
According to a Facebook post by the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office on June 15th, a young boy disappeared in the vicinity of Cleburne County Road 49 and County Road 111 shortly before 6 p.m. local time.
In a Facebook post around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Chief Barry Nolen of the Ranburne Police Department sadly confirmed that the boy had been found dead. He also requested that everyone keep the family in their prayers during this difficult time.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Adam Downs, the Coroner of Cleburne County, confirmed the identity of the child.
According to Downs, a 4-year-old boy from Ranburne, Alabama named DJ Jarrell has passed away. He was discovered in the swimming pool located in his family’s yard.
As of now, there is no further information released by the authorities regarding how the young boy managed to leave the house undetected.
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According to AL.com, DJ had managed to slip away from his home and was later found in the pool after an exhaustive two-hour search, as previously reported by Downs.
According to the coroner, the family of the young boy is advising other families with small children to remain vigilant if they have a swimming pool.
Downs emphasized the importance of keeping the gates to the pool locked and secured to ensure that children cannot access it.
According to him, the reason why the officials could not see the boy in the pool initially was due to the cloudy water.
According to a report by ABC affiliate WTVM, the drowning of DJ occurred only a few days after the tragic drowning of 5-year-old Kyrie Jefferson in an apartment pool located in Opelika, Alabama.
