The child, who police have identified only as Harry K., was reported missing around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was last seen playing by a neighbor in the front yard of his home in Lowell, Massachusetts, at 9:15 a.m.
Police said his parents left him at his home, located at 37 Freda Lane Street, around 7am. He was one of the two children the babysitter was watching at the time, police said.
The researchers made the grim discovery just before 2pm – about 29 hours after the child was last seen.
It also came shortly after local police defended their decision not to issue an Amber Alert after Harry’s disappearance, insisting that “there was no reason to believe” that the bad game played a role in the girl’s disappearance.
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The child, pictured here celebrating his third birthday, who police have identified only as Harry K., was reported missing from his home in Lowell around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The three-year search for the three-year-old was halted after more than 24 hours on Wednesday after police found the child’s body in a wooded area a few steps away from Massachusetts’s home.
Police continue to surround the area where sources tell i-team that the body of 3-year-old Harry was found near Freda Lane’s home from which he wandered. Information at 3:30 by the police. #wbz pic.twitter.com/t76o1tJVa2
– Beth Germano (@BethWBZ) June 15, 2022
Officers said at a press conference held near the site at 3:30 p.m. that they believed that Harry came out the door in the woods alone and that the bad game did not play a role in his disappearance.
Police launched a search of the home on Tuesday after receiving a call to 911 from the anonymous babysitter.
After failing to find the child after nearly 12 hours of searching, police opened the search early Wednesday in the forest, part of the Lowell-Dracut State Forest.
Police also searched the neighboring town of Tyngsboro.
Two police dogs sniffed the boy in a wooded area behind the house in the early afternoon, police said, and eventually led police to the boy’s body.
Cause of death has not been given.
The investigation saw an alliance of more than 200 officers from various police stations scan the suburbs of Massachusetts for a child sign, focusing on areas they had already checked and areas they wanted to check again.
“We have every asset we need to control every square inch of this area and we will continue to run ads as long as we can,” said Chief John Fisher.
In the photo is Lowell’s house of the babysitter who lost track of the child. The Lowell-Dracut State Forest, where the boy’s body was found, is visible in the background
Officers search the grid in Lowell, focusing on areas they have already checked and areas they want to check again. “We have every asset we need to control every square inch of this area and we will continue to run ads as long as we can,” said Chief John Fisher. pic.twitter.com/DN2QStkbHo
– Bianca Beltrán (@BiancaNBCBoston) June 15, 2022
Eventually, thanks to the Massachusetts State Police K-9 unit, they were led back to where they started the search, meeting the boy in an area that police said was a few steps away from home.
Police said the FBI kidnapping rapid development team also offered to help.
Following the discovery, many questioned Lowell’s local police department’s decision not to issue an Amber Alert after Harry was declared missing.
“The reason there is no Amber alert is that there is no reason to believe there is a crime,” Fisher said Tuesday.
Speaking to local show WMUR 9 Tuesday, the boy’s father appeared to agree with the leader’s assessment.
“He is active. He likes to go out. When he is home, he goes to the yard and plays. He is a healthy child but he can not speak. “He is trying to learn how to speak, but he cannot speak,” he told the report.
The investigation saw an alliance of more than 200 officers from several police departments scan the suburbs of Massachusetts to find a child mark, using a grid pattern to cover more ground.
Dracut Police, Tyngsborough Police, UMass Lowell Police and two Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Agencies participated in the investigation, which lasted two cities and nearly 30 hours.
We see an evolution in the search for 3-year-old Harry in Lowell. Law enforcement has put a yellow tape around a farm on Varnum Avenue. Several police officers are standing around. Large trucks moving inside. pic.twitter.com/QcdpA3cUG5
– Bianca Beltrán (@BiancaNBCBoston) June 15, 2022
Amber Alerts are usually not issued unless there is a reasonable belief that the child has been abducted. Police said there was evidence that Harry left the house alone, but did not specify what that information was.
Meanwhile, a WBZ reporter who witnessed the investigation Wednesday morning said she saw police checking the trunks of every car in Freda Lane.
After discovering the child’s body, police set up a yellow police tape around a field and pond on a farm on nearby Varnum Avenue, an area near the babysitter’s home that was part of the early stages of the investigation.
A witness, a volunteer who helped with the investigation, said police found the boy’s body in a pond on the premises.
NEW: Police stop people driving in the Lowell neighborhood where the missing 3-year-old boy named Harry was last seen, asking if they have seen the boy and checking inside their vehicles. @ NBC10Boston @NECN pic.twitter.com/oVgjx7q42B
– Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston (@AlyshaNBCBoston) June 15, 2022
“I was looking for him in the corn field and all I heard was” He left. It is on the lake. We will take him out. “Please get rid of the corn,” Kylie Vouley told the WCVB.
A steadily growing number of police officers were seen arriving at the scene shortly after the boy’s body was recovered, some in business suits and others in uniform.
Police have not yet confirmed whether the boy was found in the lake. DailyMail.com contacted Lowell Police Department on Wednesday afternoon but received no immediate response.
