Earlier this month, Kyrin Carter, a 12-year-old autistic boy, went missing. On May 25, authorities identified his body after discovering it in the Little Calumet River in northwest Indiana.
According to NBC Chicago, the boy went missing on May 15 and was seen on surveillance footage walking away from the Best Western hotel near where his body was found.
Police reportedly attempted via multiple agencies to temporarily stop the flow of water into the body of water “in an attempt to get as deep into the river as possible” in efforts to search for the boy.
On Monday night, authorities were alerted by a volunteer kayaker who said he located what was apparently a body approximately 300 feet from where Kyrin went missing.
A dive team responded to the scene and pulled his body from the water.
The incident occurred while Kyrin was on a trip to Indiana with his mother, Danielle Duckworth, for a family gathering.
The child’s family members and volunteers had scoured the area surrounding the hotel for days since Kyrin’s disappearance to no avail.
According to Blavity, Eric Smith, the kayaker who found Kyrin’s body in the Little Calumet River, said he spent days in search of the boy hoping his skills as a fisherman would come in handy.
“I came out here hoping every day to find him, but I didn’t think I was actually gonna find him,” Smith said Tuesday at the scene. “So then, like, when I spotted him, it hit me different.”
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He also said he got help from locals in his search.
“A lot, a lot of people came together and gave their time. I put a lot of time into his missing case,” he said.
“I felt happiness that I found him, that I could give the family closure,” he added.
