GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A toddler, who went missing on Sunday, has been found dead according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
Just before 5 p.m., members with the agency’s dive team recovered the body of a 3-year-old boy from a pond in Gaines Township.
Investigators think he wandered down to the water after managing to escape from his family’s apartment undetected.
“We suspect that there's no foul type of play whatsoever,” said Sgt. Eric Brunner. “We just believe this is a simple accident, a tragic accident, where a kiddo is able to get past the door.”
According to Brunner, the boy’s parents called 911 around 2:18 p.m., after they noticed he was missing from their unit at Woodfield Apartments, which is located off of 60th Street and Eastern Avenue.
When deputies arrived, the began to search the entire area, but quickly narrowed their search to a retention pond 30-40 yards from the family’s residence.
A witness account and video surveillance placed the boy outside around 1:15 p.m.
“Water and young children, that's always a concern of ours,” said Brunner. “We’re grieving alongside that family and this community, it's a hard time for them. Kid goes missing one minute [and] now we unfortunately find the kid has passed away from the drowning.”
Last May, a 1-year-old boy wandered off and drowned in a nearby creek in a Cutlerville neighborhood just west of Woodfield Apartments.
KCSO's victim advocates are now working with the child's family.
Brunner says the advocates are all volunteers, and they help families get resources, take the next few steps, go through the grieving process and lend a hand with the small things, like making the family coffee.
"They are citizens that volunteer their time to show up on someone's worst day," says Sgt. Brunner.
A press conference detailing Sunday’s incident can be watched below:
