A 9-year-old autistic boy has drowned outside an IKEA after wandering away from his parents, the New York Police Department has said.
The boy, whose photo has been released without his name, fell into the water outside of the flagship furniture store in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, NY.
The store, which is the largest of its kind in New York, is located near the Erie Basin.
When the 9-year-old boy went missing, the NYPD and the FDNY leapt into action, NBC News has reported.
The 9-year-old boy, whose autism rendered him nonverbal, was last seen on the security cameras at about 10:00 p.m. on Thursday (August 17) wandering outside of the IKEA towards the Gowanus Canal.
Unfortunately, after a frantic search that had the NYPD diving into the waters to find the child, the end result was tragic.
At around midnight, the NYPD recovered a body that was thought to be the child.
Even more sadly, the boy’s orange Crocs shoes could be seen floating around in the water where his body was found, which the police officer subsequently grabbed and brought out of the water with the body.
The 9-year-old autistic boy was rushed to nearby New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No foul play is suspected, and an autopsy is set to be conducted.
The NYPD has confirmed that an investigation into the boy’s death will indeed be ongoing.
In a statement to NBC, IKEA said that they were “devastated by this tragedy. Our hearts are with the family at this difficult time.”
