(DailyChive.com) – A missing boy in Idaho who vanished from his home last week during his birthday party was discovered dead a few days later.
On Monday, Aug. 5, 5-year-old Matthew Glynn went missing from his home during his birthday party. The boy, who had a form of autism that rendered him nonverbal, was found less than a day later, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, not too far from his home.
According to the Boise Police Department (BPD), Matthew disappeared at around 5:45 PM and the search for the boy began that night. That search effort included collaboration with Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue and Boise Fire. The search entailed going door-to-door in the area where Matthew went missing, and also employed everything from police K9s to drones and utility task vehicles.
According to Scotty Perkins, a Search and Rescue spokesperson, the search teams even played the boy’s favorite song (“Wheels on the Bus”) in order to try and attract Matthew’s attention. Perkins said non-verbal autistic subjects “tend to exhibit” certain predictable behaviors which influenced their search strategies.
Boise Police said Matthew’s body was discovered roughly half a mile from his residence in a canal. He was reportedly “deceased in the water.” Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar announced the discovery at a press conference and said it was “heartbreaking” news because they “had so hoped to find” the boy “alive and well.”
Matthew’s body was discovered around 11:30 AM on Aug. 6 after BPD, Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue, and Boise Fire found him on West Alamosa and West State Street in the waters of the Farmers Union Canal. The team members who found him were using an inflatable kayak to search the area. The Ada County Coroner’s Office was dispatched around 11:52 AM and soon ruled the death as an accidental drowning, pronouncing Matthew dead less than an hour later.
Boise Police said that the investigation of what actually happened to Matthew “is ongoing” but that there did not appear to be any signs of foul play. Boise Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer also made a statement about the case, echoing Winegar by saying it was “not the outcome” they were hoping for and extending condolences to Matthew’s family.
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