Anchorage Daily News

Two young boys who vanished from their Lake Otis Boulevard and Dowling Road neighborhood March 10 were found dead Tuesday in a partially frozen pond about a half mile from their home.

Police said Malcolm and Isaiah Johnson, ages 8 and 5, were found about six feet under the ice. The region surrounding the pond had been searched early in the case.

Police Chief Walt Monegan said at a hastily called press conference Tuesday night that authorities received a telephone tip from a woman who had found a child's shoe floating at the edge of the pond while walking her dog.

A police officer sent to the scene retrieved the shoe and turned it over to investigators, Monegan said. An Anchorage Fire Department dive team went to the pond and found the bodies.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the family tonight," Monegan said.

After the press conference, officials including Monegan and Mayor George Wuerch initially barred Brandi Johnson, the boys' mother, from entering the medical examiner's building where she wanted to say goodbye to her sons before pathologists began autopsies, according to family attorney Rex Butler.

"They said, 'You don't want to remember them the way they look now.' " But that's her decision, Butler said, radiating anger over his cell phone.

Butler said Johnson understood she could only look at her sons, not touch them.

"This poor woman's been through two weeks of hell. ... She's been accused. Her family's been accused. All this time these kids are under a damn ice pack. She's very angry. If they had dredged that water like they should have they would have found her babies the first day. Everybody said they checked the pond."

Monegan said the pond was one of the first places a dive team checked because kids are drawn to water, even though the Johnson boys were not known to play there. The team, however, did not go under the ice because they found no obvious holes where the boys could have fallen in, Monegan said. The pond was unfrozen around the edges, but the water was only 6 to 8 inches deep on the perimeter, he said.

Butler said Johnson was devastated at the news her boys had been found dead. "She didn't think they were dead, not at all. She was absolutely devastated."

Brandi Johnson eventually got in to see her children late Tuesday. Their bodies appeared well preserved, Butler said. "They looked just like they were playing and they got dirty."

Monegan said the deaths cannot be ruled an accident until autopsies are completed. He said police will continue to investigate the deaths as a criminal act until determined otherwise.

The mayor, who also appeared at the late-night press conference, said, "This is a very sad moment. ... We really pray for the family of these two little guys."

Neighbors gathered at the pond late Tuesday night said it was a popular place for kids to play. Several said they encouraged police to check the water immediately after the kids disappeared.

An SUV parked facing the pond, headlights illuminating the melted center where the boys' bodies were found.

The area is popular among children who feed the ducks and play hockey on the west end, said Deanna Smith, who has lived around the corner for four years.

"When we first moved here, I called the municipality and asked if they could do some upkeep on the pond since there are so many kids in the neighborhood, and they said, 'Do you know how many ponds there are in Alaska?' " said Smith, 34.

Dante Cueresma, who lives across the street, said he watched from his upstairs window as police pulled the first child from the water about 7 p.m. Police pulled the second child out between 10 and 15 minutes later, Cueresma said.

Cueresma brought three candles out onto the ice and lit them not 10 feet from where the boys were discovered. Neighbors brought more.

"I just wanted to pay tribute to these kids," said Cueresma, 32, who has a 4-year-old child.

When police ushered folks off the audibly breaking ice at 9:30 p.m., more than 50 candles twinkled. Several floated near the water's edge. Cueresma also set one of the "Missing" posters on the ice that showed the smiling faces of Isaiah and Malcolm.

The Johnson boys were last seen alive around dinner time on March 10, walking near their home on Doil Drive near the east end of Dowling Road.

On March 22, Monegan announced that "We know that the kids are being held someplace. ... We feel confident the kids are OK."

Reporters Wesley Loy and Katie Pesznecker contributed to this story.