A second grader from South Carolina tragically drowned in a pond near his school after going missing on September 12, 2024.
Eight-year-old Lionel Ramirez Cervantes was last seen at Bells Crossing Elementary School in Simpsonville around 11 a.m. “Sources claimed that the young boy ran from his classroom and the school itself.” Staff members chased him but lost sight of him.

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office began searching immediately. At 2:10 p.m., they posted: “Lionel is still missing… We ask that community members… check their property and camera systems.”

Tragically, at 4:12 p.m., they confirmed Lionel was found dead. “The GCSO is heartbroken to report that 8-year-old Lionel Ramirez Cervantes… has been located in a body of water off Lenox Lake Drive,” just a short distance from the school. Deputies and dive teams had searched all day before finding him shortly after 3 p.m.

Lionel’s mother, Dalia Cervantes, a single mom of five, shared her grief: “Today I received a call from Lionel’s school that he went missing. A few hours later he was found in a nearby creek… Negligence caused his death. Now I am left without my Leo.”