Tragic Incident: Three Brothers Lose Lives in Frozen Pond Accident in Texas

Sun Feb 01 2026 10:54:04 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A heartbreaking tragedy unfolded in Bonham, Texas, where three young brothers tragically lost their lives after falling through the ice of a frozen pond. Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, bravely attempted to rescue them, but the icy conditions proved too dangerous.

Three brothers, aged six, eight, and nine, died after falling into a frozen pond in Bonham, Texas. Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, desperately tried to save them but struggled as the ice kept breaking. The tragedy has left the community and the boy's family devastated, with schools offering counselling to cope with the loss. The incident highlights the dangers of frozen bodies of water during winter.

Three young brothers have died in Bonham, north Texas, after falling through ice on a private pond on Monday. Cheyenne Hangaman, the boys' mother, said she tried to rescue them by lifting them out of the water and placing them on the ice, but it kept breaking.

There was three of them and only one of me... that's why I couldn't save them, she told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. She described her sons, aged six, eight, and nine, as full of personality and urged families to make sure that you hold your kids tight, always tell them that you love them.

Hangaman first learned of the accident when her daughter ran over to her, shouting that the boys had fallen in. The children had been out playing near the pond, about 100ft (30m) away from the house where the family had been staying. The youngest fell through first after trying to ice skate on the layer of ice on the water, Hangaman said, adding that the two older boys then jumped in after him.

When I saw them, they were struggling, and I knew their bodies were already in shock, she said. The water was freezing cold. While trying to save them, she began to struggle herself and was rescued by a neighbor who heard her screams.

The local sheriff's office confirmed that emergency workers pulled the two older boys out of the water first and took them to a local hospital, while the six-year-old was later recovered after an extensive search of the pond. Authorities have not released the children's names, but family members identified them as Howard Doss, six, Kaleb Doss, eight, and EJ Doss, nine.

Describing her sons, Hangaman said EJ dreamed of becoming a football star, Kaleb loved to dance and sing, and the youngest, Howard, liked making people laugh. The boys' school expressed their devastation over the loss, offering counselling to help students cope with this unimaginable tragedy, which comes amidst a deadly winter storm affecting Texas and other parts of the US.