Landon Raber missing 6 year old autistic boy with Down syndrome found dead in Virginia pond after wandering off family’s Buckingham County property.
An ironic death. A 6-year-old non-verbal autistic boy with Down syndrome was found dead in a pond on Monday, hours after his Virginia parents reported the child missing amid their 80 acres of land.
Landon ‘Waldy’ Raber’s body was discovered not far from where he was last seen in Dillwyn, Buckingham County, Sunday evening. The missing special needs child was found deceased on a family pond just before 5.30am, Monday morning WINA reported.
The Toga Volunteer Fire Department said first-responders cleared the scene after Raber was found deceased, according to KFOR.
A large search party that included Virginia State Police, Buckingham volunteer firefighters, and sheriff deputies from multiple counties along with air search, looked for the child Sunday into Monday.
“While this was not the outcome anyone was wanting or expecting, we’d like to thank everyone who was involved with searching all evening and all night,” the Buckingham County Department of Emergency Services posted on social media. ‘Please keep the family in your thoughts, and respect their privacy during this difficult time.’
Special needs boy had only learned to walk last year
WTVR reported the six year old boy wandering off the family’s large property Sunday night before tragically being found at the pond. At the time, the boy was with members on the farm when he abruptly walked away.
The special needs boy living with a gamut of physical and psychological impediments had only last year learned to walk.
Not immediately clear was the whereabouts of the boy’s parents/guardians at the time of the special needs child’s disappearance.
