{"id":140644,"date":"2026-01-28T02:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/140644\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T02:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:34:07","slug":"mother-describes-losing-3-sons-in-frozen-north-texas-pond-i-couldnt-help-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/140644\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother describes losing 3 sons in frozen North Texas pond: “I couldn’t help them”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North Texas mother is grieving the loss of three of her sons after they drowned<\/a> Monday in a frozen pond near the home where the family had been staying, according to the Fannin County<\/a> Sheriff’s Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multiple state and local agencies responded to a call about three brothers who had fallen through the ice on a private pond off Rec Road #3, just outside Bonham, about 70 miles northeast of Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pond sits about 100 feet from the house, separated by an embankment.<\/p>\n

The mother of six, Cheyenne Hangaman, said she was outside with her children when they were playing and that “it all happened in an instant.” She said she had warned the boys to stay away from the water, but they didn’t listen.<\/p>\n

Hangaman told investigators her youngest son tried to “ice skate” on the frozen pond and fell through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His two older brothers jumped in to try to save him.<\/p>\n

Mother describes frantic rescue attempt<\/p>\n

“I tried to pick one up and put them on the ice,” Hangaman told CBS News Texas. “It would just break and keep falling in.”<\/p>\n

“There was three of them and only one of me,” she said. “That’s why I couldn’t save them.”<\/p>\n

First responders and a neighbor pulled the two older boys, ages 8 and 9, from the water and began life\u2011saving measures before they were taken to a hospital, where they later died. The youngest child, age 6, did not resurface and was recovered after an extensive search.<\/p>\n

Authorities did not release the children’s names, but family members identified them as 6\u2011year\u2011old Howard Doss, 8\u2011year\u2011old Kaleb Doss and 9\u2011year\u2011old EJ Doss. All three were students in Bonham ISD.<\/p>\n

Community mourns three young brothers<\/p>\n

Hangaman said she realized something was wrong when her daughter ran to her yelling that the boys had gone into the water.<\/p>\n

“When I seen them, they were struggling, and I know their bodies were already in shock,” she said. “The water was freezing cold.”<\/p>\n

“I tried to fight for my kids’ life,” Hangaman said. “I had to watch them struggle and drown, and I couldn’t help them.”<\/p>\n

She described her sons as full of personality \u2013 EJ dreamed of becoming a football star, Kaleb loved to dance and sing, and Howard “liked making people laugh.”<\/p>\n

Bonham ISD said counselors would be available for students and staff this week.<\/p>\n

“We are devastated by this unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family, friends, and all who knew and loved these children,” the district said in a letter to families.<\/p>\n

A neighbor who heard the screams ran to help and was able to pull Hangaman from the water, she said.<\/p>\n

Mother urges parents to stay vigilant<\/p>\n

As she prepares to bury her children, Hangaman said she hopes her tragedy serves as a warning to other parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It can happen to you,” she said. “Make sure that you hold your kids tight. Always tell them that you love them.”<\/p>\n

The family has created a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fannin County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate. Authorities have not said whether any charges will be filed. <\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Texas mother is grieving the loss of three of her sons after they drowned Monday in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2412,430,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-140644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-drowning","9":"tag-north-texas","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-texas-headlines","12":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}