“I couldn’t help them”: Texas Mother Describes Losing Three Sons in Frozen Pond Tragedy

 

In a devastating accident amid an extreme winter storm, a Texas mother has shared the harrowing story of trying — and failing — to save her three young sons after they fell through the ice on a frozen pond. The tragedy has gripped the community of Bonham, Texas, and drawn attention to both the dangers of winter weather and the unimaginable grief of a family who lost three children in moments.

                        The Tragic Incident

On Monday, January 26, 2026, three brothers — Howard, 6; Kaleb, 8; and EJ, 9 — drowned after falling through the ice on a private pond north of Bonham in Fannin County, a rural community about 70 miles northeast of Dallas. The deaths occurred as much of the United States grappled with dangerous cold, snow and ice.

The Fannin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the incident, saying the boys were playing near the pond when the ice gave way. A neighbor initially pulled the two older boys from the frigid water, but they later died at a hospital. The youngest sibling did not resurface during the initial rescue efforts and was later recovered after an extensive search of the icy pond.

                  A Mother’s Desperate Attempt

Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, recounted the heartbreaking moment she realized what had happened. As one daughter ran toward her screaming that her brothers were in the pond, Hangaman rushed toward the water, immediately plunging into the frigid depths in an attempt to save them.

“They were just screaming, telling me to help them,” Hangaman told The Associated Press. “And I watched all of them struggle, struggle to stay above the water. I watched all of them fight.”

She described how every time she tried to lift a son onto the ice, the thin surface broke — dropping them back into the icy water. At one point, Hangaman said, she was forced to focus on staying alive herself as her body began to shut down from the cold.

“There was three of them and only one of me,” she said. “That’s why I couldn’t save them.”

A neighbor and a local high-school football coach ran to help, eventually pulling Hangaman from the freezing water. Emergency responders and game wardens also worked at the scene, but the boys could not be saved.