Authorities recovered the body of the three-year-old boy that was reported missing six days ago in the pool of the apartment complex where his family live.
On Wednesday, the Toledo Police Department announced that the body believed to belong to Braylen Noble, who suffers from Autism and was non-verbal, was found.
“Update: Sept. 9 at 3:30 PM: The body of a small child has been recovered from the pool at Gibralter Heights. Official identification will be made by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office,” the police announced via Twitter.
“The investigation has now turned from a Missing Person Investigation to a Death Investigation.”
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt of the Toledo Police Department said that it is common practice for them to revisit the search area to see if they missed anything.
“But we do want to reiterate that the area was searched numerous times by Toledo Fire and Rescue, the FBI, private search groups, and both live and cadaver dogs,” Lenhardt reiterated.
The boy lived with his mother, Dajnae Cox, and other relatives while his father, Taveon Noble, is at prison.
Braylen was reported missing by his grandmother Friday afternoon, who said that he had crawled out of his third-floor apartment’s window.
According to the 911 call, the boy’s family searched not only the creek but also the nearby playground, pool and apartment buildings.
Braylen’s family members earlier held a vigil for the young boy and prayed for his safe return.
His grandfather, Jeffery Holloway said, “We’re out here for this prayer vigil to bring him safe and sound back home, or let us know where he’s at. Please.”
Joy Goings, Braylen’s great aunt, said there had been “so much negativity on Facebook about the mom,” but they did not “care about that.”
“We just care about the little baby. We don’t care about what’s going on,” she said.
“We just want to come in together and pray and lift her up. We don’t know what the situation is, we just want to keep her in prayer.”