The body of 6-year-old Fawzan Hassan has been found in a pond at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland, near the playground where the boy went missing on Saturday, Montgomery County Police said.
Hassan, who was also nonverbal and had autism, was last seen at about 3 p.m. Saturday at Bohrer Park.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, but foul play is not suspected.
Members of the community spotted the little boy’s body in the pond. Police rushed over, roped off the area and confirmed it was Hassan.
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Montgomery County police and fire departments searched overnight for the child and deployed drones with the assistance of Maryland National Capital Police - Montgomery County, authorities said.
Police say they had searched that pond twice, but he was not initially found. They chose not to use dive teams because there are snapping turtles in the water. News4 was there when searchers were in the pond trying to find him.
“What’s underneath, we don’t know and how it can affect our instruments and reading signals and things like that,” said Lt. Kristina Hedgepeth with Montgomery County Police. “So I think that’s what a lot of it had to do with, not that anyone missed a spot. Everything was gone over very thoroughly.”
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Hassan’s mom told News4’s Derrick Ward before the body was found that the boy’s grandmother was watching him at an Ethiopian community event at the park. She went to look for his sister and when she returned he was gone.
“It's a sad day for the community,” said Azeb Adere with the Ethiopian Eritrean Special Needs Community.
She helped organize search volunteers and says there are a lot of questions about why he wasn’t found sooner, but those will need to wait.
“I'm so sorry for the parents,” Adere said. “I feel so bad and for communities to learn this so it doesn't happen to another child.”
When asked about the message to the community, police say parents need to stay vigilant.
“It’s a tough thing to say to anyone in this situation, but I just know as a parent myself, your head’s gotta be on a swivel,” Hedgepeth said. “You have to constantly be watching and it’s even harder when you have a child with special needs.”
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