More information has been released on drowning of two boys Saturday in a farm pond near Prescott. During a news conference today, Corning Fire Chief Donnie Willett and Adams County Sheriff Alan Johannes said they received a call from Tom and Lisa Frey, of Prescott, at around 5:34 p.m. that their boys, ages eight and nine were missing.

The brothers, Nate and T.J. Frey, had been playing on the family farm at 1623 Vanilla Avenue when they failed to return to the home.  Willett said the parents discovered a hole in the ice and called 9-1-1.  “At the time of the arrival…there was a hole in the middle of the pond, there was some clothing that was on top, and that’s where we started our search and then we found them,” Willett  said.

The hole was located about 20-yards from shore. The body of one of the boys was found under the ice and the other body was found about 20-minutes later.  Willett said the ice near the edge of the pond was approximately two-and-a-half  to three inches thick, but near the center, where the boys fell in, it was so thin  that divers could punch a whole in it with their fists.

The water at the point where the boys fell in was 10 to 12 feet deep. Johannes said it appears a fun time turned tragic for the boys. He said they didn’t have any reports that the boys were ice fishing, it is believed they were just out playing.

Johannes says if you do go out onto ice you should be sure it is nice and thick. Funeral arrangements are currently pending for the boys at Powers Funeral Home in Creston.

(Reporting by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)