A five-year-old boy from Idaho who disappeared from his home on Monday night has been found dead, according to authorities.
The Boise Police Department reports that nonverbal and autistic Matthew Glynn was found "deceased in the water" in a canal around 0.5 miles from his residence. "It is heartbreaking to have such a conclusion to this effort when we had so hoped to find Matthew alive and well," Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar told reporters Tuesday.
"The investigation is ongoing and at this point there appears to be no signs of foul play," the Boise Police Department added in a statement.
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Approximately 5:45 p.m. local time on Monday, Glynn vanished from his house, according to police, and the hunt for him started. "A large search effort was launched by Boise Police, Boise Fire, and Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue," Boise Police said, noting that it involved drones , K9s and utility task vehicles.
"Detectives with the Ada County Child Abduction Response Team also began an investigation and officers searched door to door in the area where he went missing." In an attempt to get Glynn's attention, searchers played his favorite song, "Wheels on the Bus," according to Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue spokeswoman Scotty Perkins, who spoke with KTVB.
"When you have an autistic subject that's nonverbal, they tend to exhibit preferences and behaviors that are potentially a little bit more predictable," he told the station. "So, we employed some of those strategies that we had been given."
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In a statement, Boise Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer stated, "This is not the result we were all hoping for. Our hearts go out to Matthew's family, and we extend our deepest condolences during this incredibly difficult time," he added.
Boise Police say the body that was found is presumed to be him and the "Ada County Coroner’s Office will make an official identification." A 2016 study found that nearly half of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder experience "elopement," as it is known in the disability community.
Approximately one-third of the more than 800 elopement incidents reviewed by the National Autism Association between 2011 and 2016 featured a close encounter with water, traffic, or another potentially lethal event, and another 38% involved some other kind of medical intervention.
It is referred to by supporters as a "public health issue and crisis." Elopement is an impulse, according to Growing Kids Therapy's director Elizabeth Vosseller. The goal of the therapy facility is to teach nonverbal people how to communicate through spelling. People with autism themselves may find the encounter very terrifying, particularly if they are nonspeaking.
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