The search for a missing 7-year-old boy with autism came to a tragic end on Tuesday morning after his body was found in a pond in Volusia County.
According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Charlie Newton, 7, was reported missing on Monday, November 25, after he “ran off” from his home in Deltona.
The sheriff’s office stated that Charlie ran north on Stillwater Avenue at around 8 p.m. on Monday, prompting a search that included law enforcement officers and K-9s from VCSO and surrounding agencies.
Multiple units conducted a thorough search on the ground and in the air, which continued through the predawn hours and into the morning on Tuesday, November 26.
Later in the morning on Tuesday, VCSO stated on social media that the agency is “saddened to report that we have recovered Charlie’s body from the water.”
The sheriff’s office added that this is the “tragic outcome we all worked so hard hoping would not come to pass.”
Earlier this month, a 4-year-old boy with autism was found deceased in a park in Volusia County, hours after being reported missing.
A few days earlier, a 5-year-old boy with autism drowned in a body of water near a home in Osceola County.
In August, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shared video footage of a VCSO deputy rescuing a missing 5-year-old autistic boy from a pond in Deltona.