When you’re a parent trying to make it through the long winter months with young children, you likely relish the opportunity to have them play outside for a little while and enjoy the snow and wintry atmosphere while you get a few things done indoors. It’s when things quickly go from fun to dangerous in the winter that really makes your heart ache. A North Carolina family has been forever changed after 7-year-old twin boys died after falling through ice and into the pond below. Their mother called them to come in for dinner, and when the boys didn’t respond, she realized something was wrong and tried to save them, but it was too late.
About 5:30 p.m. on February 8, 2026, emergency crews arrived at Mayberry Lane in Onslow County after receiving a 911 call about “two 7-year-old juveniles who had fallen into a frozen pond,” the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office shared in a news release posted to social media.
Barbara Zarlinga was making dinner for her family that Sunday evening while her 7-year-old twins played outside, WITN reported. After calling them inside for dinner three times, she knew something didn’t feel right.
After doing a quick search around her neighborhood, she “felt the urge to check the pond,” per WITN. She first spotted son Sebastian in the water and was “praying” that it was a toy, but when she got into the water, she quickly realized that wasn’t the case, per the news outlet. The mother pulled Sebastian from the icy water and started lifesaving measures. Emergency crews arrived and located his twin brother, Benjamin, in the water.
According to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, after lifesaving measures were initiated for both boys, they were taken to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune. Sadly, “despite the extensive efforts of first responders and medical staff,” both boys were declared dead.
The boys’ mother was also treated at the hospital for hypothermia, but healthwise, she’s recovering after the incident, per WITN. She’s especially grateful to the first responder who pulled her out of the water and “took [her] through the woods and prayed over” her as they made their way out of the pond area.
The twins’ older sister, Hailey Carey, told WITN that she always had fun babysitting her twin brothers as they would “go in the living room, and all have a dance party.” The twins’ grandmother, Denise Morrison, doesn’t wish this kind of pain on anyone as she hopes “nobody has to holler their children’s name and not get a response.”
A family friend, Kia Lewis, set up a GoFundMe page to help Barbara Zarlinga and family cover funeral costs and medical bills. It’s raised more than $28,000 thus far. Our thoughts are with the family and all their loved ones during this difficult time.
