A heartbreaking search for a missing 10-year-old Missouri boy ended in tragedy Thursday after authorities found him unresponsive in a pond just hours after he was believed to have sleepwalked out of his home.
Jackson S. Georgari was last seen shortly before midnight on Thursday, July 9, wearing a gray T-shirt and gray shorts, according to a missing person alert issued by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.
Police said Jackson, who was 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighed about 80 pounds, had a history of sleepwalking. His family believed he may have wandered out of the home while asleep.
The boy had no diagnosed medical conditions, according to police.
Jackson’s sister, Semina Richard, told KMBC that this was not the first time he had sleepwalked away from home.
“The first time it happened was when we were in San Diego, and he sleepwalked and then someone found him on the street and they called 911,” she said. “They brought him over and he was found safely.”
She said the family had recently moved from San Diego to Missouri, where Jackson had wandered off once before.
“The second time, it was here,” Richard said. “We recently moved here from San Diego to Missouri. And he ran away again, and he went, like, all the way up there where his school is at because that’s the only place he recognizes.”
Jackson’s sisters told KMBC they believed he may have followed a route he recognized from his school bus rides — a path that ran through wooded areas near streams and ponds.
By shortly after noon, police delivered the devastating update. Jackson had been found unresponsive in a pond near Briarcliff Village on North Mulberry.
Kansas City Police Capt. Jake Becchina later described the pond as “very large” while speaking with reporters in a video shared by KCTV5.
“Fire and rescue personnel immediately began resuscitation efforts but unfortunately he was declared deceased there at that location,” police said in an updated alert.
Authorities said the case has now shifted from a missing person investigation to a death investigation. Police noted there were no immediate signs of foul play.
Jackson’s cause and manner of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
Becchina said the tragedy was the kind of update no department ever wants to give.
“It hurts in your community when you have a kid that goes out in the middle of the night and whatever the circumstances were that led to him ending up in there,” he said.
“It’s not an update we ever want to provide, and it’s truly unfortunate,” Becchina continued. “I really feel for the family involved in this. It’s unimaginable. Can’t even imagine. They went to bed last night, and everything was normal, and now today they have to deal with this.”
