A five-year-old boy with autism is the second child to drown in a retention pond at the Northgreen at Carrollwood apartment complex in Tampa, Florida, within the last two months. The child was reported missing by his father around 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
The father stated that he and his son had gone back to sleep after waking up early Friday morning. Upon waking again at 9 a.m., he discovered his son was not in bed and noticed that a screen door leading to the patio had been broken. After confirming the boy was not with his grandmother, who also resides in the apartment, the father contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Hundreds of law enforcement personnel, including aviation and drone units, a K9 unit, and a dive team, were deployed to search for the child. A bloodhound persistently circled a retention pond located approximately 30 feet behind the apartment. A member of the dive team located the child deceased in about five feet of water.
Sheriff Chad Chronister noted that the previous drowning also involved a five-year-old autistic child, though that incident occurred in a different retention pond at the same complex. The child found on Friday had recently celebrated his birthday and was preparing to start kindergarten. "There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a child," Chronister said.
