Days after an AMBER Alert was issued for 4-year-old Raul Gonzalez Johnson of North Carolina, officials found a body in a pond near where the boy went missing.
FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lunch said that authorities think the body is of Raul, according to a CBS report.
A medical examiner is working to confirm the identity of the body and also cause of death.
The family of Raul was notified by officials of the finding on Saturday, ABC News reported.
Officials said that Raul left home while his grandfather was looking after him. Raul reportedly went to a neighbors house where he was told to go back home.
The boy’s grandfather called his mother at 11 a.m. Wednesday saying that Raul had gone missing.
Raul was last seen near his Scotland County home walking on Village Drive towards Crestline Road in Laurinburg.
The child was seen wearing a T-shirt with tiger stripes and pajama pants with rocket ships on them.
Help @FBICharlotte & Scotland County Sheriff's Office find 4-year-old Raul Gonzalez Johnson, #missing from Laurinburg, NC since 1/24/18. Call the FBI at (704) 672-6100 or the Sheriff's Office at (910) 405-9940 with any info or tips. https://t.co/7jtabHU2GL pic.twitter.com/hJkxOBHo4u
— FBI (@FBI) January 26, 2018
“There is nothing we have found with interviews with family members, next door neighbors or information from the public that would indicate foul play,” Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey said. “We’ve got trained people out there, they’ve come from all over North and South Carolina, and hopefully this will be over soon,” he added, reported WRAL.
“He [her father] was in the kitchen cooking and my daughter was in the bedroom, she was in the room playing with him and said he went missing and went outside looking for him but he couldn’t find him,” said Annie Johnson, Raul’s mother. She said she left work as soon as she was informed the boy went missing.
“I told him to call 911,” she said, with tears in her eyes. “I thought maybe he was just hiding because he likes to hide, but he never stays gone this long, he always comes back. If I holler for him he comes back and this time he didn’t come back.”
“I just don’t know if somebody took him or if he’s lost in the woods or if something happened to him in the water,” the mother said. “I don’t know, I just want him home.”
AMBER ALERT: Raul Johnson, 4, of Scotland County, NC, was last seen Wednesday wearing white and orange tiger striped shirt with tigers on it and white pants with rocket ships printed on them. Anyone who sees him should call 911. MORE: https://t.co/XbzRwUrzYm pic.twitter.com/cwW18TYrGK
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) January 25, 2018
Earlier this week, an AMBER Alert had been issued for North Carolina.
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