Search for missing 4-year-old ends after child found deceased in swimming pool

The search for a missing child in eastern Alabama ended in tragedy after a 4-year-old boy was found deceased in Cleburne County.

Cleburne County Coroner Adam Downs told AL.com that the child, identified as DJ Jarrell, was found deceased in a backyard swimming pool after an approximately two-hour search Saturday evening.

Downs said the child “escaped” from his home around 6 p.m. and was later found in the pool.

Downs said DJ's family asked to be vigilant about pool safety.

“They urge anyone with a young child who owns a pool to make sure they keep the gates locked and secure where a child cannot get into that pool,” Downs said.

The Ranburne Police Department issued a missing child alert at 8:41 p.m. Saturday, saying a 4-year-old boy was missing and asking anyone with information about the child to call 911 immediately.

The child was last seen near the area of ​​Cleburne County Road 49 and County Road 111 in Ranburne around 5:55 p.m.

Police announced at 9:33 p.m. that the child had been found deceased.

Downs said the search involved many volunteers, law enforcement and emergency response personnel from Cleburne County and surrounding areas.

He said the water in the pool was very cloudy, which is why the child was not immediately found in the pool.

“It’s just one of those circumstances where the water was so murky in the pool that you couldn’t see the bottom,” he said.

Downs said the official cause of death would not be released until after an autopsy by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.