- Rakim Akbari is believed to have left the resort in the morning.
A three-year-old boy with autism was found dead in the water at a resort outside Walt Disney World.
Rakim Akbari was initially believed to have wandered away from the Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas sometime Thursday morning, prompting the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to issue a missing child alert. FOX 35 reports.
The alert described the boy as autistic and officials said there was “extreme concern for his welfare.”
But just hours later, officers found Akbari’s body in the water at the resort.
“Our detectives are still investigating how this tragedy occurred,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
Rakim Akbari, 3, was found dead in the water at an Orlando, Florida, resort on Thursday.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it is still investigating the tragedy.
“We are mourning his loss and our prayers are with his family.”
Akbari’s mother, Tarina, expressed her grief on Facebook.
“My baby, oh god, why my baby?” she wrote Thursday afternoon.
She had previously appealed for help in finding her son on the social media platform, writing: “I need you all please please my baby is missing.”
About an hour later, he called for help again.
The boy was staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas outside Disney World.
“Please I can’t live without my baby, please help me, please God, my baby,” she wrote.
A friend also expressed her grief online, writing: ‘I can’t stop shedding tears, I’m so hurt.
‘I am praying for you (Tarina) and your family during the loss of your baby.’