Townsville mother of boys who drowned after wandering off arrested

Leeann Eatts, inset, cries at the ceremony for her two boys who were found drowned in the Ross River. Photos / Supplied

The mum of two young brothers, who were tragically found dead in Townsville's Ross River in February, has been arrested and is expected to be charged with their manslaughter.

Leanne Eatts, 47, lost her two boys Barak Austral, 5, and Jhulio Sariago, 3, after they wandered away from the family home on February 25.

Despite a massive search effort, involving more than 100 Townsville locals, the boys' bodies were found submerged in the Ross River the next morning just before 5am.

CCTV footage showed the brothers walking towards the river on the day they drowned. Photo / Supplied

Police found their bodies "only a couple of metres from each other" in a deep cutaway section of the river about 10 hours after they slipped away from their mother at the family's Brett St home to play at their favourite park.

Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles, in charge of the case, told reporters today that the charges would be related to care and responsibility a parent should have for children.

Police allege the boys were regularly left unsupervised.

Ms Eatts is also expected to face drug trafficking charges, including supply dangerous drugs to a minor.

"As a result of what's been a fairly arduous investigation over the last five weeks, we've taken the boys' mother into custody," Mr Miles said.

"This investigation centres around the care of these young boys and what led to their tragic passing. This is a catastrophic result for this family and it is a preventable tragedy. There is no way that these boys should've been left in the way they were … Their deaths under appropriate supervision by a parent could've been prevented."

Police will allege Ms Eatts was "solely responsible for the failure of these two young boys", Mr Miles said.

"It should never have happened. This result should never have occurred. These boys were three and five years old and they should have been adequately supervised and should not have been allowed to roam anywhere near a large body of water."

In the police investigation, Mr Miles said they had uncovered a "significant history" of the boys' movements over the months leading up to their deaths.

Police allege the lack of supervision was "systemic behaviour" from Ms Eatts.

Mr Miles thanked everyone that had approached police and assisted them during their investigation.

Leeann Eatts cries at the smoking ceremony for her two boys. Photo / News Corp

"We appreciate it. It's been difficult for us and also a number of those persons that wondered if they could've played a role in preventing this. The reality is, it wasn't possible on this particular occasion," he said.

MUM WAS 'INCONSOLABLE' AFTER BOYS WENT MISSING

It was just before 4.30pm on February 25, on a sunny Townsville day, that a camera attached to a Brett St home in the suburb of Cranbrook filmed brothers Jhulio and Barak Eatts happily setting off an adventure to their favourite park on the banks of the Ross River.

Five-year-old Barak had only been finished school for an hour when he and his three-year-old brother Jhulio left their family home, also on Brett St, and started the short walk to Cranbrook Park.

The home CCTV briefly caught the boys, walking without shoes, before they disappeared from view. It would be the last image of them alive.

An hour later, their mum Leeann Eatts called police when the family's own search had failed.

At the time, their aunty Ros Eatts spoke of the family's distress, and said Leeann was "inconsolable" after the tragic discovery at the riverbank.

"Everyone's in shock and total devastation," Ms Eatts told the Townsville Bulletin.

"I'm totally gutted. Little Jhulio was three years old — I used to call him little Dumbo, I used to tell him one day he could fly one day with his ears — now I think, 'fly with the angels'."

Barak Austral, 5, and Jhulio Sariago, 3. Photo / Supplied

Ros told the paper Leeann was keeping an eye on the boys from the kitchen, which looks down on the yard, and called out for them about 5.30pm, soon realising they were not there.

She reportedly ran down to the bridge at the river and was screaming for them.

"F**k me man my two babies have been missing since 5.45," their mum wrote on Facebook just before 9pm yesterday.

"I got eight police cars at my house and everyone on foot looking for them please keep a close eye out for them on the streets near Stockland Cranbrook and surrounding suburbs freaking rite (sic) out now. They only 5 and 3. Both have shorts no shirt or shoes. They just walked off. Please help Townsville."

By 6.30pm, a full-scale search had been mounted by police and more than 800 people had shared Leeann's frantic status on Facebook.

Dozens of locals headed to the shops to buy batteries for their torches to search through the night, with about 30 SES volunteers scouring the streets and another 40 police joining the hunt.

The Queensland Emergency Services helicopter spent the night hovering over the neighbourhood, members from Queensland Fire Service joined in and boats from the state's Water Police drove up and down the still murky and flood-affected Ross River.

Less than a month ago, record floods that hit Townsville caused the river to swell, breaking its banks in many parts and leaving the water littered with vegetation.

Just before midnight, after almost six hours of police searching on motorbikes, on foot, in patrol cars and doorknocking neighbours, an emergency amber alert was issued.

At 1.15am, Ms Eatts encouraged anyone in the area to take a quick look around and said Townsville Council had turned all the lights on in surrounding parks.

"Please if you live near a park or driving past it take time to have a look. They will be cold hungry and tired now," she wrote. "Mum is missing you boys so so much."

At 4.30am, just before the sun started to rise, she begged her Facebook friends to change their profile pictures to a photograph of her two sons to try and raise more awareness.

"Please send these photos viral. I thank all who has put themselves out to help find these two wonderful boys," she wrote.

But in an unfortunate twist, Townsville's frantic search for the two brothers ended in heartbreak between 4.40am and 6am this morning when police officers found their bodies in the river.

Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles confirmed the two young boys had been found in a small, cutaway area in the river "only a couple of metres from each other".

"From the recent flood events, it's quite deep and quite a steep bank and there's a lot of vegetation there," Mr Miles said in February.

"Given the young age of these boys it's extremely trying for everyone. We have a very difficult job to do. The officers who found them were visibly affected by it and they'll be supported by Queensland Police."