Three missing children under age nine are found dead in Texas pond

Zi’ariel Oliver, 9, Amiyah Hughes, 8, and 5-year-old Temari Oliver were reported missing hours before their bodies were recovered in the early morning hours of Saturday

The bodies of three little girls were found in a pond near their home in Texas just hours after they were reported missing.

Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports that Zi’ariel Oliver, 9, Amiyah Hughes, 8, and 5-year-old Temari Oliver had gone missing from their home just outside of Atlanta around 10pm on Friday, local news station KSLA first reported.

Later that night, the agencies found a pair of shoes and other items of clothing near a pond in a neighboring property.

‘‘We located items of clothing around a pond and in a pond,” Texas Game Warden Shawn Hervey told KSLA. ‘‘So, we centered the search around that small body of water, and with the use of divers we were able to recover three victims at approximately 2am.’’

Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. According to the Texarkana Gazette, a 911 call was made by a family friend who was watching the girls while their mother, Shommaonique Oliver, was at work.

The girls’ mother expressed her shock and grief at the tragedy on a Facebook post.

“The loss of my sweet babies [girls is] so unreal. But I know I have to be strong for the sake of my other [three babies] because they need me more [than] ever,” Ms Oliver wrote in the Sunday post.

She also reposted a picture of her daughters. Ms Oliver has created a GoFundMe to raise funds for the funerals of Zi’ariel, Amiyah and Temari.

Their cause of death has not been confirmed pending an official autopsy.