Toddler, 3, who disappeared from babysitter’s home more than a day ago, is found dead in a nearby woods after police defended a decision not to issue an Amber Alert
- The child, who police have identified only as Harry K., was reported missing from the Lowell home around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
- Police said he was dropped off by his parents at the home at 37 Freda Lane around 7am. Harry was one of two children monitored by the babysitter
- The somber discovery came almost 30 hours after the child was last seen – and shortly after local police defended their decision not to issue a yellow alert
The sweeping search for a three-year-old boy who went missing from his babysitter’s home on Tuesday ended in tragedy – officials called it off nearly 30 hours later after discovering the child’s body in the woods behind the babysitter’s home.
The child, who police have only identified as Harry K., was reported missing around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was last seen at 9:15 a.m. by a neighbor playing in the front yard of the Lowell, Massachusetts home.
Police said he was dropped off by his parents at the residence at 37 Freda Lane around 7am. He was one of two children being babysittered at the time, police said.
Investigators made the grim discovery just before 2 p.m. – about 29 hours after the child was last seen.
It also came shortly after local police defended their decision not to issue an Amber Alert following Harry’s disappearance, as they insisted there was “no reason to believe” foul play played a part in the tot’s disappearance.
Continue
The child, pictured here celebrating his third birthday, who police have identified only as Harry K., was reported missing from the Lowell home around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday
The extended search for a three-year-old was called off Wednesday after more than 24 hours after police found the child’s body in a wooded area just steps from the Massachusetts home
Officials told press near the site that they believed Harry walked out the door to the wooded area alone and that foul play played no part in his disappearance.
Police began searching the home on Tuesday after receiving an emergency call from the unnamed babysitter.
After failing to find the child after nearly 12 hours of searching, police shifted the search to the woods, which is part of the Lowell-Dracut State Forest, early Wednesday
Police also searched the neighboring town of Tyngsboro.
Two police dogs tracked the boy in part of the woods behind the house early in the afternoon, police officers said, and eventually led officers to the boy’s body.
A cause of death was not given.
In the search, a coalition of more than 200 officers from multiple police departments scoured the Massachusetts suburbs for a sign of the child, focusing on areas they had already checked and areas they plan to recheck.
“We have everything we need to survey every square inch of this area and we’re going to be going outside for as long as we can,” Chief John Fisher said.
Eventually, thanks to the Massachusetts State Police K-9 unit, they were guided back to where they started the search and came across the boy in the bush, who police said was just behind the house.