A 5-year-old boy with autism died last week after being found in a body of water near a park in Osceola County.
According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, on Wednesday, November 13, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 400 block of Buenaventura Boulevard in Kissimmee in reference to a boy who went missing from SENSES Park.
Deputies spoke with the father who advised that he briefly lost sight of his 5-year-old son, Arturo Javier Angarita, while tending to his younger child. He further stated that Arturo was diagnosed with autism.
Multiple OCSO units responded to the area, and a trained bloodhound K-9 was given a “scent article” belonging to Arturo. The K-9 managed to use the scent to track the direction Arturo went after leaving the park.
The search came to a tragic end when deputies found Arturo in a nearby body of water. Deputies immediately entered the water and began life-saving measures in an attempt to save his life.
Arturo was transported to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orange County, where he was sadly pronounced deceased.
The family of Arturo has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover the cost of his funeral and medical expenses. The fundraiser, which has a goal of $50,000, has raised over $4,000 as of 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 20.
Over the weekend, another young child with autism tragically drowned in a body of water near a park in Ormond Beach.