Body Of Missing 5-Year-Old Recovered In Allentown Canal

The canal is about a quarter mile from the relative’s home where the party was.

He had been missing since Thursday night.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS NEWS) – Police on Saturday recanvassed an eastern Pennsylvania neighborhood where a 5-year-old boy with autism wandered away from a New Year’s Eve party without shoes or a coat.

“This is being considered a tragic accident, however there will be a full investigation by the Allentown Criminal Investigation Division, in conjunction with the Lehigh County coroner’s office”, Morris said, adding that no foul play is suspected at this time.

According to officials, the boy went missing on the east side of town around 11:00 p.m. He was last seen running in the area of Aubrey Street and East South Street. That prompted police to call in divers who found the boy’s body about eight feet from shore, in six feet of water.

The chief couldn’t immediately say whether anyone might face charges because the boy wandered away, though authorities took care to note they were attempting to assist the boy’s grieving family. His sisters say they’re grateful for the hundreds of volunteers who searched for their brother over two days, and who now light candles and lay teddy bears at a growing memorial in his honor.

“Everybody stopped what they were doing and they went looking for this child”, one volunteer said.

Crews also searched some nearby railyards and the Lehigh River.

Police were especially concerned because temperatures were near freezing overnight and forecast to hit only the high 30s on Saturday.