Coroner: Body of 5-year-old boy with autism found in canal

CBS- Authorities in Pennsylvania announced Saturday that the body of a missing 5-year-old autistic boy has been recovered after he went missing during a New Year’s Eve party.

Police summoned the divers after a searcher found a tablet computer similar to one Jayliel Vega Batista was believed to be playing with before he disappeared Thursday night, The (Allentown) Morning Call (http://bit.ly/1SsMK2E ) reported.

As a show of support, hundreds of family members, friends and people who never knew Jayliel walked across the Hamilton Bridge to the Lehigh Canal where the autistic boy’s body was found on Saturday.

Grim couldn’t say how the boy died, or whether he was likely still alive when he entered the water. “Please, please continue to pray for the family and support them”.

Thurman Clark, 25, told the newspaper he found the device shortly after joining other searchers at Allentown’s Canal Park about 1 p.m.

Police hoped to use helicopters again to search for the boy on Saturday, but Dorney said the aircraft were tied up on another matter.

Residents of Allentown’s east side are being asked to check in their yards and sheds and notify Allentown Communications Center at 610-437-7751.

Instead, police ask anyone who lives in the area to thoroughly search their own property and parked auto periodically, in case the boy comes wandering in search of shelter.

“It’s a sad day for the city”, Mayor Ed Pawlowski said at a news conference, where authorities confirmed Jayliel’s death.

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