Police in Florida say the bodies of two young brothers who snuck their apartment as their mother napped were discovered in a nearby pond.
Two brothers, Kashh, 3, and Elijah, 5, were reported missing on Saturday before their bodies were recovered in a pond near their Daytona Beach apartment complex.
Police believe Elijah has autism and that many children with autism gravitate toward water.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young stated that detectives believe the boys’ deaths were accidental and that there is no evidence of foul play.
“This is your greatest nightmare – to lose both of your children in that fashion,” Young replied.
According to Young, the brothers’ single mother fed them around 5 p.m. on Saturday before falling down for a short nap. When she awoke around 15 minutes later, both sons and the family dog had left the residence.
“She does have a child safety lock on the door, so apparently, they figured out how to navigate that child safety lock, and they exited the apartment,” Young stated.
According to police, security video shows the children running around before entering the pond. Moments afterward, their mother is seen on video walking outside.
“She was trying to do her due diligence to see if she could locate the children before calling 911,” Young claimed. “But by then, based on what we can see now on the surveillance video, they were already submerged in the water.”
While Young believes the deaths were accidental, the case has been turned over to the State Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether the mother will face prosecution.
Neighbors say they hope the apartment complex would install fencing or other barriers around the pond.
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