A missing 10-year-old boy was found dead in a Missouri pond just hours after he wandered from his Kansas City home while sleepwalking, authorities said.
Officials said firefighters and rescue crews immediately began resuscitation efforts, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jackson was last seen the previous evening, just before midnight, at his family's residence on the 1100 block of Northwest Vivion Road, roughly a mile away. Police said the boy was believed to have left his home during a sleepwalking episode, which he was previously known to have.
Jackson's sister, Semina Richard, told KMBC 9 News that he had wandered away while asleep for the first time before they moved to the area when the family was living in San Diego.
Jackson's family told the outlet that he did not know how to swim. The exact cause and manner of his death will be determined following an autopsy by the local medical examiner. Authorities said a death investigation is underway but noted that there were no immediate signs of foul play.
"Whether he fell in there, got caught up in rain or storm or slipped—all of those things are possibilities," he said. "Those are questions the detectives have, and they'll spend their efforts working through that."
Around 100 first responders from multiple agencies assisted in the search efforts, including officials from the Kansas City Fire Department, the Gladstone Police Department, the Riverside Police Department, and the North Kansas City Police Department, as well as search and rescue crews from both Missouri and Kansas.
Becchina told reporters that surveillance footage played a role in helping investigators track Jackson's movements to the area where he was ultimately located.
"It's not an update we ever want to provide. And it's really unfortunate—really feel for the family involved in this. It's unimaginable," he said. "They went to bed last night, everything was normal, and now today they have to deal with this."