AARONNE MITCHELL and AARONNE RUSSEL - 13 yo Brothers - New Orleans LA

Search parties of friends, neighbors and family continued their search
for two missing 13-year-old brothers who haven't been seen since Easter
when acquaintances say they were walking some dogs near the lakefront.

Aaronne Mitchell and Aaronne Russel spent a short time in the water near
Lincoln Beach near Hayne Blvd. and Paris Road, but were allegedly seen
by some getting out of the water.

The father of the half-brothers, Aaronne Simmons, says he no longer
believes the boys are in the water. He said both were excellent
swimmers.

The NOPD and a private water search team have not resumed looking in the
lake because of the high winds, but anticipate resuming the search
soon.

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Search-parties-continue-looking-for-missing-teen-brothers-120870154.html

Tom, the private water search team is Texas Equusearch.

04/26/11 – We have been asked by the families and
the New Orleans Police Department to assist in the search for Aaronne
Mitchell and Aaronne Russell, both age 13. Tim Miller, Founder and
Director, will depart this evening for New Orleans, and will begin the
search on Wednesday, April 27th.
To read news coverage of this story, see links below.
http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Windy-conditions-slow-down-search-for-missing/Z8Z06Duke06rU8urApUMNg.cspx
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/04/texas_equusearch_looking_for_m.html
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/04/easter_new_orleans_boys_still.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42769547/ns/local_news-new_orleans_la/
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Family-prays-as-search-for-missing-13-year-olds-continue-120751144.html
http://texasequusearch.org/2011/04/missing-aaronne-mitchell-aaronne-russell-both-13-yrs-new-orleans-la-042511/

Family members now say that bodies found in Lake Pontchartrain on Thursday and Friday have been identified as two missing boys.

Since Easter, hundreds have combed New Orleans East and Lake
Pontchartrain for 13-year-old half brothers Aaronne Russell and Aaronne
Mitchell.

And even after two bodies were pulled from Lake Pontchartrain earlier
this week, the family planned to continue their search this weekend,
until they got a call from the coroner's office.

Using dental records, the coroner's office positively identified one of the bodies recovered from the lake as Russell.

Now, officials are waiting on dental records for Mitchell before identifying the body.

The first body was found a day earlier by a fisherman in a shallow area of water in the lake, near the Lake Catherine marina.

Deputies with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Marine Division
found the second body in Lake Pontchartrain Friday afternoon, about one
mile from the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, near the Bayou Liberty
area.

Officials from the coroner's office say Russell drowned to death, but don't suspect foul play.

Officials haven't yet determined the cause of death for the second body pulled from the lake.

The boys were last seen walking along the levee on Hayne Boulevard in New Orleans East with two dogs.

Witnesses said the two talked about going swimming in Lake Pontchartrain.

http://www.wwl.com/Officials-identify-body-found-in-Lake-as-N-O--East/9738755

Sheron Mitchell -- the mother of one of two 13-year-old brothers reported missing
from eastern New Orleans for days -- delivered her son's dental records
to the Orleans Parish coroner's office on Monday. But she has little
doubt the second body recently found floating in Lake Pontchartrain is
Aaronne Mitchell.

Last week, Elijah, Jada and Terrence Jordan stood on the levee near Lincoln
Beach as they awaited word on their cousins, who disappeared while
walking a neighbor's dogs on Easter.

A conversation Sunday with a representative of the coroner's office
revealed the bloated body had a rubber bracelet on one of his wrists."I just couldn't breathe,"
said Mitchell, recalling the moment when the worker began to describe the bracelet.Before
moving back to eastern New Orleans -- after a 2 1/2-year stint in
Lafayette -- Mitchell and her son attended a nondenominational church
where visitors were given a black rubber church bracelet as a memento.
"He was still wearing it," she said.The body she believes is her son's was found Friday afternoon
in Lake Pontchartrain about a mile from where Bayou Liberty empties
into the lake in St. Tammany Parish. The previous day, searchers found the body of his brother,
Aaronne Russell, in Lake Pontchartrain, west of Rigolets Pass.According
to autopsies, both died from drowning, said John Gagliano, the chief
investigator for the coroner's office, which identified the body of
Aaronne Russell from dental records and is expected to do the same
Tuesday for the body found Friday.

Aaronne ' Russell

The body of Aaronne Russell was found about 20 miles from an area in
eastern New Orleans where the two boys were last seen walking dogs, said
Marlon Defillo, a New Orleans Police Department Deputy Chief. And the
spot near Bayou Liberty where the second body was found is about 20
miles from where the first body was found, Defillo said.Karalynn
Russell -- mother of Aaronne Russell -- said her theory is that the boys
somehow got into a boat and "something happened that caused them to
have to get out of the boat."She said it is unlikely that her son
drowned near the shore of Lincoln Beach because he can swim. And Sheron
Mitchell insisted her son too was a "good swimmer."

Aaronne Mitchell

Mitchell said her brother taught his nephew how to swim.
Aaronne "DJ7" Simmons is the father of the boys.The
boys were last seen by Angela Kinler, a former St. Bernard Parish
resident who now lives in eastern New Orleans, She said the boys told
her they were going for a swim at Lincoln Beach, one of the historic
swimming areas along Lake Pontchartrain. And they wanted to know if she
would allow them to take Buddy, her dog, and a puppy, which once
belonged to a relative of the boys' father. She said she allowed the
boys to take the dogs in the spirit of trying to be neighborly.
She became worried when the boys and the dogs did not return.
Soon the police were asked for help.A search conducted by a long list of
government agencies and many volunteers followed.The two dogs have not been found.
A report about the dogs being lost was filed April 26 with the Louisiana SPCA.
"But we have not seen any dogs meeting those descriptions," said Katherine LeBlanc,
a spokeswoman for the agency.Sheron
Mitchell said her son had a lot of friends at Breaux Middle School in
Lafayette before the family moved back to her native eastern New
Orleans. His favorite subject was math, she said. He was happy to
resettle in New Orleans about a week before Easter because coming home
meant he could spend more time with his father and brother, she said.
"And he just started getting into skateboarding," Mitchell said.Karalynn
Russell said her son was not fond of classes at Carver Elementary
School where he was in the sixth grade, but he liked the girls there. Russell
said family members are planning funeral services on Friday for her
son. No details were available Monday night. Mitchell said she will
begin funeral arrangements for her son once the coroner's office
confirms his identity via the dental records.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/missing_boys_mother_has_given.html

NEW ORLEANS - The Orleans Parish coroner's office has confirmed that a
second body found in Lake Pontchartrain last week is that of Aaronne
Mitchell, the other brother who had been missing since Easter.

Mitchell, and his half brother, Aaronne Russell, went missing on Easter after walking a neighbor's dogs near Lincoln Beach.

Both boys died of natural cause drowning, according to the coroner.

After several days of searching the area, Russell's body was recovered
near Lake Catherine. A day later, MItchell's body was pulled from the
lake, nearer the northshore.

Forensics took a while to identify the pair but family members believed
it to be the missing boys shortly after the second body was found.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Coroner-confirms-second-body-found-in-lake-is-other-missing-teen-121189049.html