RICHMOND, Texas — The body of a missing 8-year-old boy at the center of an AMBER Alert was found in a lake Sunday morning near his last known location, according to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. He was found by a Texas EquuSearch crew around 6:50 a.m.
Ryan Akagbusi had last been seen leaving his home in the Lakemont subdivision in Richmond a little before 5 a.m. Saturday. Cameras picked him up leaving the house with shoes, but at 5:37 a.m., a camera in the neighborhood showed Ryan running barefoot.
Ryan's mother, Admorowa Oladind, told us Saturday that her son was non-verbal.
“My friends and family are here, the whole neighborhood. Police are here,” she said during the search. “We've had K9. We've had helicopter. We’ve had drones go around. We’ve gone door to door. Everybody is here. The whole Lakemont is here.”
Oladind said while her son didn't talk, he was very independent.
After Ryan's body was found, neighbors told KHOU 11's Katiera Winfrey they were heartbroken.
"A child is gone this morning," said Porsche Smith, who had helped in the search effort. "I woke up this morning and that was the first thing I thought about."
Smith said now is the time for the community to support a grieving mother.
"Everybody needs to have their arms around you right now because I cannot imagine," Smith said.
Investigators said it's not yet clear how the child got out of the house.
"We feel very sad for the family," said Dalia Simmons with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities say children with autism are often drawn to bodies of water for its sensory nature. The water sometimes moves, and you may be able to see shadows and light reflected off the surface.
"So, it’s attractive to kids, even if they weren’t on the spectrum. Water is very attractive to children," Simmons said.
A GoFundMe was created to help the family with funeral expenses.
Resource for families
The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office has a resource to families to track loved ones with cognitive disorders.
Through a partnership with Project Lifesaver International, the sheriff's office is providing families a blue bracelet resembling a watch. The device is actually a personal locating device. Each bracelet transmits a radio frequency specific to the individual wearer.
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is actively working to register more residents with cognitive disorders who are prone to wandering with Project Lifesaver.