Police in Ohio believed to have found the body of Braylen Noble, 3, in a pool.
Toledo police revealed that a body believed to belong to Noble, who had autism and was nonverbal, was discovered in a pool behind his apartment complex this past Wednesday.
“Update: Sept. 9 at 3:30 PM: The body of a small child has been recovered from the pool at Gibralter Heights.”
“Official identification will be made by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office,” police posted online.
“The investigation has now turned from a Missing Person Investigation to a Death Investigation.”
Authorities had already searched the pool days earlier, according to Lt. Kellie Lenhardt of the Toledo Police Department.
“It’s common practice in police investigations, once an area is searched, if nothing found, to go back and revisit that search area and see if anything was missed,” said Lt. Lenhardt, ABC13 reports.
“But we do want to reiterate that the area was searched numerous times by Toledo Fire and Rescue, the FBI, private search groups, and both live and cadaver dogs.”
Braylen was reported missing last Friday afternoon by his grandmother. His grandmother said he had crawled out of his third-floor apartment’s window, according to a recording of the 911 call released by officials.
And when asked by the 911 operator if his family had searched the creek behind the apartment complex, Braylen’s grandmother stated they searched not only the creek but also the nearby playground, pool and apartment buildings.
The investigation into Braylen’s death remains ongoing.
With a background in the creative and educational fields, Amelia Finefrock is freelance writer, singer-songwriter and nanny based in Chicago.
