By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-23 20:40:03 | Updated at 2024-10-01 04:13:41
1 week ago
A five-year-old autistic boy - who was last seen barefoot and dressed in a diaper when he vanished from his Texas home - has been found dead.
The boy, whose name was not disclosed, was found in a retention pond by deputies of the Harris County Sheriff's Office on Sunday, in Cypress, approximately 24 miles northwest of Downtown Houston.
The child had been reported missing just before noon by family members who spotted him in the pond approximately a quarter-mile from his home at 20500 block of Keegans Ledge Lane.
The events leading up to the child's death remain unclear, but the boy's father pulled his son out of the water, ABC13 News reported.
A 5-year-old child with autism was found dead in a retention pond near his home on Sunday
Police performed life saving measures, but sadly the little boy could not be revived.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene, Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Michael Ritchie said.
'I don't foresee any charges being filed,' Ritchie said. 'I just foresee this as a very unfortunate accident.'
According to the sergeant, the child had to have walked at least a quarter mile from his home to the retention pond.
He was reported to have been barefoot, wearing on a diaper and t-shirt.
'We are trying to pinpoint a time when this occurred. We are reviewing video. There were no calls of service about a child walking alone,' he said.
Part of their investigation, he said, is going into the home where the boy lived to see what safeguards were in place.
Police cars line up near the pond on Sunday afternoon
Deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office was on the scene
Sgt. Ritchie, who has sadly seen this tragedy happen too often over his career, explained that autistic children are more apt to wander off and are attracted to water.
He recommended GPS tracking devices and for children to have some type of ID on them, as per the news outlet.
Nikko Jones, who lives nearby and has a daughter the same as the victim, was horrified when she heard the news from police.
'It's devastating, ' Jones told the news outlet. 'I feel for the situation right now even though it's not my child.'
DailyMail.com reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
