Christmas tragedy as two brothers aged seven and eight die after plunging through ice while playing on a Missouri pond
- Cleveland Hicks, seven, and Terrence Hick, eight, died on Sunday night
- The boys had gone cycling on a private property in Missouri
- When they did not come home, their families went looking for them
- They found one of the boys in the water but a diver had to come and find the other
- Both were pronounced dead in the hospital later that night
Two brothers aged seven and eight have died after plunging through ice on a pond in Missouri.
Cleveland Hicks, seven, and his older brother Terrence, eight, died on Sunday.
Police say they went out on their bicycles on Sunday to explore a property near their home when they plunged through the ice.
Cleveland Hicks, seven, and his older brother Terrence, eight, died on Sunday. They were playing on a frozen pond and fell through the ice
The brothers were both pronounced dead in the hospital
It is unclear if the boys were skating on the ice or cycling across it.
One of the boys was found floating in the water by concerned family member who had gone looking for them.
The other had to be retrieved by a diver later.
It is unclear how long they had been in the water by the time they were found.
They were both taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.
No one from the boys’ families has commented publicly but neighbors are in shock.
‘This is such a sad thing that’s happened, just can’t believe it.
‘And I’d wave at them and they’d wave at me,’ 93-year-old Opal Kamper said.
She said it was normal for local children to play on the frozen pond.
‘I did it when I was a kid, too.
‘We all did it,’ she said.
Neighbors said it was common for children to play on the frozen pond