The search for a 3-year-old boy who disappeared from his babysitter’s backyard ended tragically with his body found in a pond.
On Wednesday afternoon, the remains of the toddler identified by police only as Harry K were discovered in a pond in a Christmas tree farm located 650 feet from his babysitter’s house in Lowell, Massachusetts.
‘I want to be clear that we have no idea how Harry came to reach that pond, where he might have been or how long it might have taken him to reach that pond,’ stated Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.
The boy’s parents took him to his babysitter’s home around 7am on Tuesday, cops said, and at least one neighbor saw him playing in the backyard around 9.15am.
Shortly after, around 9.30am, the boy’s babysitter reported him missing. Police immediately began searching for him, with 200 officers, K9 units, helicopters, drone operators and cops on horseback dispatched in the effort.
Lowell police alerted the community of his disappearance using a reverse 911 system to reach residents and ask them to contact authorities if they had information on the toddler.
‘This is obviously every parents’ worst nightmare: a child who disappears for a very short period of time, the excruciating hours of the search and then the recovery of his body,’ Ryan said.
His body was found about five feet deep at the edge of a murky pond that divers had gone into on Tuesday, reported.
The boy’s body was recovered just before 2pm, which was about 29 hours after he was last seen. He was found not long after police defended their decision not to issue an Amber Alert because there was ‘no reason to believe’ foul play was involved.
Police said the toddler likely wandered through the woods to Rollie’s Tree Farm.
The boy’s cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
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