Twin boys drown in icy pond; NC mother says she tried to save them

Wednesday, February 11, 2026
A family is mourning after twin brothers died after falling into an icy pond in Onslow County, North Carolina.

Their mother Barba Zarlinga said she jumped into the pond on Sunday evening to try to save her 7-year-old sons Benjamin and Sebastian.

"I saw Sebastian in the water, I didn't know it was him at the time," she said. "I was praying to God it was a toy. Praying to God it was a toy and when I got into the water, it was not.

Zarlinga said she pulled Sebastian out and performed life-saving measures along with her daughter.

Medics arrived and got Benjamin out of the water, and they were then taken to Camp Lejeune Naval Medical Center where they died.

A mother jumped into an ice-covered pond Sunday evening trying to save her twin 7-year-old sons.



Zarlinga said she will always be grateful for the first responders who did what they could and one first responder who pulled her out of the water.



"The woman that pulled me out of the pond," she said. "She prayed over me that night and she took me through the woods and prayed over me the whole time we were walking."

The mother said she was treated for hypothermia while she was at the hospital but is fine.

"I hope nobody has to holler their children's name and not get a response," grandmother Denice Capretta Morrison said.

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