Boy, 10, SLEEPWALKED out of his house in the middle of the night… before tragedy struck

A 10-year-old boy has been found dead in a pond near his home after he sleepwalked out of the house in the middle of the night. 

Jackson Georgari was last seen around 12am on Thursday in doorbell camera footage from an apartment complex where he lived in northern Kansas City, according to the Kansas City Police Department.

Police announced the boy was missing later that morning, and a multi-agency search effort was carried out by four police departments and the Kansas City Fire Department, as well as volunteers from the neighborhood. 

After an hours-long search using drones and K-9 units, officers found Georgari’s body in a pond about a mile south of his home around noon on Thursday, 12 hours after he was last seen.

Kansas City police said that fire and rescue personnel attempted to resuscitate the boy, but the efforts were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead.

Police added that ‘there were no immediate signs of foul play,’ though the boy’s death is under investigation. 

The medical examiner is working to determine Georgari’s cause and manner of death.

While the search was still underway, the little boy’s family told KMBC that he had sleepwalked in the past. 

Semina Richard, Georgari’s older sister, told the outlet that the first time he had sleepwalked was when the family was living in San Diego, before they recently moved to Kansas City. 

‘Someone found him on the street and they called 911. They brought him over and he was found safely,’ Semina said of that incident. 

The second time was after the family had moved to Missouri. ‘He ran away again, and he went all the way up there where his school is at because that’s the only place he recognizes,’ she said. 

The little boy’s death has rattled the local community. 

‘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,’ Kansas City Police Department Captain Jake Becchina told KCTV.

‘You feel for the family involved in this. It’s unimaginable. I can’t even imagine. They went to bed last night, and everything was normal. And now today they have to deal with this,’ the police captain added. 

Neighbors who had participated in the search effort recounted their experience and expressed their heartbreak for the family.

‘I had an appointment this morning, right after the police had left. And I thought, well, maybe I’ll be lucky and find him. But he may have already been passed by that [point],’ Heather Meikenhous said. 

‘It’s just so sad. My heart goes out for his parents. And please, please get peace. I wish you the best,’ she added. 

Estela Yslas, a resident who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, told KCTV it was the first time she had seen anything like this happen in the area. 

‘I would like to tell them that I prayed for them, and I’m so sorry for their loss. But I prayed that they will find them. But not like that,’ Yslas said in a message to Georgari’s family.

The Briarcliff Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization confirmed that the boy was a student at the school in a statement shared on social media. 

‘We extend our deepest condolences to the student’s family, friends, classmates, teachers, and everyone whose lives were touched by him,’ the statement said.

‘Please continue to hold this family and our entire Briarcliff community close in your hearts,’ the parent teacher organization added. 

Georgari would have started fifth grade when school resumes in the fall.