4-year-old missing for days wandered off from playground alone, Washington police say
UPDATE: The missing boy has been found dead in a Washington river after he vanished in September, authorities said.
Lucian Munguia’s skeletal remains were discovered in Yakima River on Thursday, Dec. 29, according to a Dec. 31 news release from the Yakima Police Department.
The original story is below.
A 4-year-old boy wandered off from a Washington park and has been missing since, authorities said.
Lucian Munguia was reported missing around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, from the Sarg Hubbard Park in Yakima, the Yakima Police Department said.
More than 100 search and rescuers began looking for Lucian after he disappeared, police said.
“There has been an enormous effort to try and locate Lucian,” police Chief Matthew Murray said.
Police determined Lucian left the playground alone and walked south and east, toward multiple bodies of water, including a fast-moving river, a pond and a lake, police said in a news release.
Searchers then looked through the bodies of water and nearby areas using search dogs, kayaks, drones, underwater drones, boats, dive teams and helicopters, YakTriNews reported.
Lucian is on the autism spectrum, multiple outlets reported, including the Yakima Herald-Republic.
The search for Lucian was tracked with a GPS, and it was “extremely thorough,” police said.
But after three days, Lucian has not been found. Police do not suspect foul play.
Now search and rescue efforts are being scaled back, which is “consistent with protocol for searching an urban area,” police said.
“We ask that you continue to keep Lucian’s family in your thoughts. This is an unimaginably painful situation,” police said.
Yakima is about 140 miles southeast of Seattle.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 10:48 AM with the headline "4-year-old missing for days wandered off from playground alone, Washington police say."
