A five-year-old boy died in apparent drowning at the beach, according to a news release issued today (Thursday, July 23) by the Port Aransas Police Department.<\/p>\n
The child\u2019s name wasn\u2019t released, but PAPD Chief James Stokes said he was a Poteet resident.<\/p>\n
Following is the full text of the news release:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Port Aransas Police Department is deeply saddened to report that a five-year-old child died following an apparent drowning incident on Wednesday evening, July 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt approximately 5:35 p.m., officers with the Port Aransas Police Department responded to the beach near Beach Marker 46 after receiving a report of a child who had been pulled from the water and was not breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cUpon arrival, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden was already performing CPR on the child. Port Aransas officers assisted with lifesaving efforts, including the application of an automated external defibrillator (AED), while awaiting emergency medical services. EMS personnel transported the child to a local hospital for emergency treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cLater that evening, the Port Aransas Police Department was notified that the child had succumbed to his injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe preliminary investigation indicates the child had been visiting the beach with his grandparents. Investigators learned that the child had been wearing a flotation device earlier in the day, which had been removed while the family was preparing to leave the beach. The child, who was unable to swim, was reported missing after family members briefly lost sight of him. He was subsequently located in the water near Beach Marker 46.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incident remains under investigation by the Port Aransas Police Department in coordination with the Nueces County Medical Examiner. At this time, there is no indication of foul play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news release quoted Stokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hearts are with this child\u2019s family as they endure an unimaginable loss,\u201d Stokes said. \u201cThis tragedy serves as a heartbreaking reminder that young children can disappear from sight in only moments, and constant, uninterrupted supervision around the water is essential. We ask our community to keep this family in their thoughts and prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The release continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Port Aransas Police Department encourages all beach visitors to practice water safety by:<\/p>\n
Maintaining constant, arm\u2019s-length supervision of young children.
\nEnsuring children who cannot swim wear a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket whenever they are near or in the water.
\nNever relying solely on flotation devices as a substitute for adult supervision.
\nDesignating a responsible adult to actively watch children whenever they are in or around the water.<\/p>\n
No further information is being released at this time out of respect for the family\u2019s privacy and the ongoing investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A five-year-old boy died in apparent drowning at the beach, according to a news release issued today (Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-385061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385061","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=385061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}