A seven-year-old was killed by the newly rescued family dog while he was playing in his home's backyard in Oklahoma . Little James M...
A seven-year-old was killed by the newly rescued family dog while he was playing in his home's backyard in Oklahoma.
Little James McNeelis was playing outside his Kiefer home with the pet on the evening of October 20, when he suddenly disappeared.
When he failed to answer calls to come home for dinner, his worried family called 911. At 7.35pm that evening, James's body was found by his distraught father Michael McNeelis.
'We heard the bloodcurdling screams of "No!", a neighbor said.
The boy was declared dead at the scene.
Seven-year-old James McNeelis died on October 20, after he was mauled by a dog that had been rescued by his family
James had been playing in the backyard of his home south of Kiefer, Oklahoma. His parent reported him missing after he failed to answer calls to return home for dinner
The dog is now being held at an animal control facility but it is unclear if it will be euthanized.
Creek County Sheriff's Office is working along with the Oklahoma Medical Examiners Office to investigate the event.
'It doesn't look like any foul play,' Creek County Sheriff Bret Bowling told KOCO.
'Our preliminary indications or investigations indicate is some kind of animal,' said the sheriff.
The family had rescued the dog just three weeks prior after it was 'dumped on the side of the road.'
'He was so full of life and light and he was going to change the world. And he still is. His light will change the world,' James' father shared on Facebook
Michael and Hannah McNeely (pictured with James) found their son mauled in their backyard
They said the dog, a corgi and Shetland sheepdog mix, had not shown any signs of aggression.
James' father, Michael McNeelis shared his heartbreak on Facebook.
'He was so full of life and light and he was going to change the world. And he still is.
'His light will change the world.
'We feel alone and lost without him and we’re doing all we can but it’s just hard. Everything just hurts without my little boy here,' he wrote in a post.
A GoFundMe page was set up by James' mother, Hannah Markley. More than $4,000 have been raised to cover funeral cost
Neighbor Shannon Edinson told KOTV she was celebrating a birthday on her porch when she heard screams coming from James' house.
'We knew something was wrong. As a mother, you know that scream. If anybody has ever heard that scream, you know that scream,' she said. 'Something was catastrophically wrong.'
A GoFundMe page was set up by James' mother, Hannah Markley. More than $4,000 have been raised.
'On October 20th, 2021, Michael and Hannah found their little boy mauled in their backyard. This is in order to help with memorial and cremation expenses for James,' the description read.
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