Editor’s Note — Out of respect for the family of Miles McMahon, we’ve removed his picture which the sheriff’s office shared after he disappeared.
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — After hours of searching for a missing 5-year-old boy with autism in Charles County, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) said he was found dead inside a pond.
According to CCSO, at 11 a.m. on Sunday, officers responded to the 1000 block of St. Pauls Drive, located in the Bannister neighborhood in Waldorf, for the report of a missing child.
Home security footage showed the child, Miles McMahon, who is non-verbal, leaving the house and skipping in his front yard. In the footage, he wore a red shirt with no shoes or pants.
Family members searched the area and called 911 when they could not find Miles. Responding officers established a perimeter and immediately focused their search on nearby bodies of water.
The CCSO Search Management Team, members of the La Plata police and the Charles County dive team responded. The Maryland State Police (MSP) helicopter section and drone team members were also activated to aid the search.
As of Sunday night, police K-9 and bloodhounds continued to scan the area in search of the boy.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Monday, the Sheriff’s Office announced Miles was found dead inside a pond not too far from his home.
Officials said the pond and the surrounding area were their primary focus.
On Sunday morning, crews searched the pond but could not find Miles. Later that evening, MSP’s dive team completed another search and Miles was located.
We are heartbroken along with Miles’ family and all of you. Please keep Miles and his family in your thoughts and prayers as well as all first responders and all of those who assisted,”
said the Sheriff’s Office, in a Facebook post.