A 9-year-old Arkansas boy was checking mail when he disappeared Thursday (May 28), only to be discovered dead shortly after from an apparent dog attack.

The boy’s mother called the deputies at Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office to report him missing at around 10:15 a.m. (EST) saying, he went outside to check the mail and never returned, police said in a statement.

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Deputies arrived at the family’s home in the small town of Mount Vernon, north of Little Rock, and carried out an investigation. A little while later, they found the young boy dead near the house.

The boy’s mother told deputies she had seen several dogs running from a field near her house. Faulkner County Major Crimes Unit was called to the scene and two people were interrogated regarding the incident.

Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office enlisted the help of a local animal shelter to take custody of at least two dogs from a residence off of Chambers Lane. The dogs would be quarantined for the investigation purposes, according to the statement.

Police didn’t reveal any additional details about the incident, especially what type of dogs killed the young boy. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Last week, a large pit bull mix was euthanized after ambushing three people, including a 3-year-old boy in Madison, Tennessee. Richard Brooks, who along with his family recently moved to the neighborhood near Meadow Bend Drive near Neely's Bend Road, was at work when his neighbor had been trying to leash the dog. The canine, however, got loose and launched an attack on Brook’s family, spurring his pregnant daughter to run to save her 14-year-old and 3-year-old children. The pregnant woman suffered severe injures as a result of the attack and the children had deep cuts and bruises.

Back in May 2019, at least five dogs were ordered to be euthanized for mauling a 14-year-old Massachusetts boy to death. Ryan Hazel, a high school freshman, was doing chores at his house when the five canines that were roaming near the property lunged at him, leaving him with fatal injuries all over the body.

pit bull
A pit bull in the menacing dogs area of the Henderson Animal Shelter in Auckland, New Zealand, July 27, 2016. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images