Missing Daytona Beach brothers escaped apartment while mom was sleeping: 'A tragic accident'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said the deaths of two boys who went missing over the weekend and were later found submerged in a nearby retention pond appeared to be "an extremely tragic accident."

During a Monday press conference, Chief Young said it appeared that the boys were able to navigate a child lock on the door and get out of their apartment while the mother took a short nap.

Missing Florida brothers found dead in pond, chief says

The backstory:

Daytona Beach police issued a Florida missing child alert for 5-year-old Elijah Hawkins and 3-year-old Kashh Williams on Saturday evening, Oct. 10. Hours later, police said both boys had been found dead in a nearby retention pond.

22 minutes

Timeline:

During a Monday press conference, Chief Young said officers were able to find surveillance video that shows the boys playing in the area, near the retention pond, and provided an updated timeline of what happened:

• 11 a.m.: Mom served the boys breakfast
• 5 p.m.: Mom served the boys lunch, then took a short nap
• 5:15 p.m.: Mom woke up and noticed the boys and family dog were missing
• 5:57 p.m.: Surveillance video shows both boys playing in the area, near the retention pond
• 6:02 p.m.: Elijah, 5, becomes submerged under the water
• 6:03 p.m. : Kashh, 3, becomes submerged under the water
• 6:06 p.m.: Mom is spotted on surveillance video calling for the dog and searching for both boys
• 6:19 p.m.: 911 made to Daytona Beach Police reporting the children missing

Chief Young said there was a span of 22 minutes between when mom arrived at the retention pond and when she called 911, referring to the entire situation as "an extremely tragic accident."

Chief: This appears to be a tragic accident

What they're saying:

"The sad reality is I can go over this timeline and I can give you every resource that we deployed in the time that we deployed those resources, but the sad reality is, those children were already submerged under the water several minutes before we were even notified about this incident," he said.

All of us that have children, and even those that don't have children, but especially parents, this is your greatest nightmare – to lose both of your children in that fashion."

Case referred to State Attorney's Office

What's next:

It's not known if charges will be filed as a result of the children's deaths. Chief Young said while it appears to be a tragic accident, their investigative details have been shared with the State Attorney's Office to determine whether charges should be filed.

"All of the information we have has already been packaged and already been sent to the State Attorney's Office so they can make a determination on, ya know, if this is going to be ruled child neglect, or anything of that nature. I can tell you based on our investigation and what we know, there are no obvious signs of foul play. The apartment was clean, she had food in there, it was a very comfortable environment for the children. As it stands right now...from what we can tell, this appears to be an extremely tragic accident."