A 3-year-old boy reported missing from an Orlando resort near Walt Disney World Thursday morning was found dead in a body of water several hours later.
“It is with heavy hearts that we must share that our deputies have found Rakim Akbari deceased in a body of water at the resort where he was reported missing this morning,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. “Our detectives are still looking into how this tragedy occurred.”
“We are grieving his loss, and our prayers are with his family,” they added.
An earlier missing child alert, shared shortly before 11 a.m., described the boy, who was nicknamed “Tuda,” as having autism and limited communication skills. He was last seen wearing a maroon shirt and pajama pants, but no shoes or socks.
Police initially believed he had wandered away from the Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas at Lake Buena Vista before he was found.
The resort has both a large pool and an large pond on its grounds. Neither is fenced.
Neither the Orange County Sheriff’s Office nor the Florida Department of Law Enforcement provided additional information but said the investigation was ongoing.
The Sheraton resort is about 12 miles from Disney World and 5 miles from Disney Springs.