'Little angels' Heartbroken family pays tribute to the two little brothers who drowned in Townsville as police reveal more details
This is heartbreaking
By Frances Sheen
February 26 2019
The aunt of two little brothers, who were tragically killed in a Townsville river, has led a chorus of tributes to the little boys.
The bodies of little Barak, five, and Jhulio, three, were discovered in the Ross River near Cranbrook just before 7am on Tuesday. They were found dead by police after going to play in the river alone.
Now their great aunt, Ros Eatts, has led a chorus of beautiful tributes to the boys, who described them as 'little angels'.
“Everyone’s in shock and total devastation,” Ms Eatts told the Townsville Bulletin.
“I’m totally gutted. Little Jhulio was three years old — I used to call him little Dumbo, I used to tell him one day he could fly one day with his ears — now I think, ‘fly with the angels’.”
The brothers, 3 and 5, were captured on CCTV walking alone down a suburban street towards the river on Monday and were reported missing after 6.30pm.
Ros told the Brisbane Times that their mother Leeann’s heart “had been shattered into millions of pieces”.
“The family's loss of the little boys is devastating for anyone to deal with,” she said.
The boys' mum, Leann Eatts, has now deleted her Facebook account to recover from the tragic news.
But before she came off social media her friends rallied round with tributes to her sons. One friend wrote: "These little boys were angels in my eyes and loved them to pieces."
"RIP you beautiful boys," another friend wrote.
"Please remember what I said last night, it’s not your fault, please don’t blame yourself," another posted.
Police are still trying to piece together a timeline of the boys movements after they were spotted walking towards the river.
Townsville’s officer in charge of child protection, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles, said the young boys were very familiar with the area around the river and frequently swam there.
“There are a large number of young children there who congregate together and play in the park area along the foreshore of the water and also in the water," he said.
“This is just a tragic set of circumstances where these young boys have ventured down to the river and obviously become caught up with the environment.
“As to what caused them to end up in the water, we are unsure at this stage but it could be as innocent as harmless play that has had tragic consequences. Ultimately the determination as to what's happened is a matter for the coroner."
