A child with autism died Monday after being found face down in a pond near his Chester County, Pennsylvania, home.
Kennett Township police said officers were dispatched to a home on the 600 block of Chandler Mill Road in Kennett Square around 2:45 p.m. on April 29, 2024, for a report of a missing 5-year-old.
Police immediately began searching for the boy with autism at his home, on surrounding properties and in a large, wooded area nearby, township police said. The Kennett Fire Company, Longwood Fire and EMS units and a drone from the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department were called on to join the search.
"Before the requested backup arrived, Kennett Township Police found the missing boy face down in a pond on a neighbor’s property," township police said in a news release.
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Officers jumped into the pond, got the child out and began administering CPR until EMS arrived, police said.
Life-saving measures "continued as the boy was transported to A.I. Dupont Hospital in Delaware," police said. "Despite all additional efforts, the child was unfortunately pronounced dead at the hospital."
The child wasn't immediately named so that family could be notified, authorities said.
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Township and county detectives investigated the boy's death. Anyone with information can contact Kennett Township Police Chief Matt Gordon at matthew.gordon@kennett.pa.us.
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