Sister Discovers 9-Year-Old Brother After He Unexpectedly Dies in Sleep

A nine-year-old boy who died overnight in mysterious circumstances was found lifeless in his bed by his sister.

Logan Gagnier, who lived in Eagle Mountain, Utah, went to bed on Friday evening and simply never woke up, his family said.

On Saturday morning, the family noticed that the boy appeared to be late waking up. That's when they made a tragic discovery.

"My oldest daughter ran upstairs just to see if he was okay and found him unresponsive and... he'd been gone for hours," the boy's father, Garth Gagnier, told KSLTV.

The family said the nine-year-old had no known health issues and a preliminary autopsy was inconclusive about the cause of death.

"He was healthy and he was active, so that's what's confusing and frustrating," Garth Gagnier said.

According to the family, Friday evening had been normal and fun-filled. Logan Gagnier had been playing with his cousin and grandparents.

"We didn't have any warning. There were no signs of any kind of sickness or illness or trauma, but God gave us some special moments," his uncle, JD Sheppard told Fox 13.

"He just had a ton of energy. Always trying to make people laugh."

The circumstances of the nine-year-old's death remain a mystery. As a result, it may fall into the category of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC).

This refers to deaths in children between the ages of one and 18 that remain unexplained after a thorough investigation, according to the SUDC Foundation.

In most cases of SUDC, a healthy child goes to sleep and never wakes up. The causes of SUDC remain a mystery and we do not know how to predict or prevent it.

A medical examiner or coroner could categorize a death as SUDC in the absence of another cause.

It is not known how often SUDC occurs due to variations in investigations and the way deaths are certified. But the Foundation estimates that nearly 400 children succumbed to a sudden, unexplained death in the U.S. in 2020—most of whom were toddlers.

Similar unexplained deaths in children aged under 12 months are usually referred to as sudden infant death syndrome.

On Monday, members of Logan Gagnier's local community adorned trees with ribbons and left hearts on their lawns and houses in honor of the boy.

"I think this strikes a chord with a lot of people," his uncle said. "People can understand the horror and the grief of such a tragic, tragic circumstance."