ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A five-year-old Orion Township boy with special needs was found dead in a neighbor’s above ground pool on Saturday, after being missing for two hours.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a residence in the 1100 block of Devon Street on Saturday, shortly before 4 p.m. The boy’s grandfather said that he had last been seen at the home at around 3:30 p.m. At the time, the rear door of the home was missing. The grandfather also told deputies that the boy had previously attempted to leave the home.
The Sheriff’s Office and Rescue Team, along with two K-9 units, the Orion Township Fire Department personnel, and multiple deputies, searched for the boy. Officials went house to house, as well as searched in the nearby woods, a lake, and a swamp. Due to high winds in the area, drones could not be used.
Firefighters found the boy on the cover of an above ground pool at a home in Crestmont, which was about a block away from where the boy lived. At the time, the cover had at least one foot of standing water on it. A ladder was on the rear of the pool, which the boy likely used to gain access to the water.
Paramedics began performing CPR on the boy as he was transported to a nearby hospital. He died at the hospital a short time later.
An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Sunday. The cause and the manner of death are currently pending.
