![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/df241aac-41ee-49ab-8f41-ad3dd930f12c_1140x641.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCelina police said during a press conference that the boy’s body was recovered from a pond.<\/p>\n
CELINA, Texas \u2014 A North Texas community is mourning after an 8-year-old boy who disappeared Friday morning was found dead near his neighborhood following an extensive search involving multiple agencies.<\/p>\n
According to Celina Police Department, officers began searching for MJ Ashmead after he was reported missing from the Sutton Fields neighborhood around 9:30 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n
Police previously said MJ had developmental disabilities and was believed to be on foot when he disappeared. Authorities issued a public call for help and deployed a large-scale search effort that included local, state and federal partners. Search crews, drones, K-9 teams and volunteers spent hours combing through the area, including several ponds near the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was heartbreaking,\u201d said Sutton Fields resident Siva Uppala.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Uppala watched as emergency crews searched near his home throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is very unfortunate,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah, this is a parent’s worst nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At a news conference Friday afternoon, John Thacker with Celina Police confirmed the outcome many had feared.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust after 12 noon today, the Celina Police Department notified family members that the missing boy’s body had been located near the subdivision,\u201d Thacker said.<\/p>\n
Officials have not released details about exactly where the child was found.<\/p>\n
\u201cA tragic loss like this cut to the core of who we are,\u201d Thacker said. Police said investigators have found no indication that foul play was involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Authorities described the incident as a tragic accident and said the investigation remains ongoing. Police have not released additional information about the circumstances surrounding the child’s death.<\/p>\n
For many parents in the fast-growing community, the tragedy has struck a deeply personal chord.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a little kid and that was really heartbreaking,\u201d Uppala said.<\/p>\n
He said the search and its outcome have prompted conversations among neighbors about safety, particularly around ponds and water features located throughout the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard the news, I was like, is it really safe to be around these ponds?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What began Friday as a desperate search for a missing child ended with a community grieving alongside a family facing an unimaginable loss.<\/p>\n
Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding MJ’s death.<\/p>\n
\nWatch the Celina Police’s full press conference below <\/p>\n
This is a developing story check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celina police said during a press conference that the boy’s body was recovered from a pond. CELINA, Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-315226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315226","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=315226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}