A four-year-old autistic New York boy who went missing during a family trip to South Carolina was found dead, officials say.
Coroner Robert Edge reported that Jayden Jorrison was found dead this morning in a pond.
Emergency workers and over 100 volunteers searched the South Carolina coastal town of Little River, about 25 miles north of Myrtle Beach, on Christmas Eve and until 1 a.m. on Christmas Day for the boy. He was last seen at his grandmother’s house at 6 p.m. wearing red footie pajamas and had been under her care at the time.T
Jayden and his mother arrived at his grandmother’s house in South Carolina on December 24th and explained
Jayden, who is nonverbal, wouldn’t respond if his name was called and would likely be unable to find his way home because he is not familiar with the South Carolina neighborhood in which his grandmother resides.
Carolyn Sumpter, the grandmother, answered a phone call and quickly quickly noticed the front door was open with Jayden nowhere in sight. The boy’s mother left him under Sumpter’s care while she did some last minute Christmas shopping.
“We’re just distraught,” Sumpter told the Daily News. “We lost our baby.”
He would likely not be able to find his way home because he is not familiar with the South Carolina neighborhood in which his grandmother resides.
‘He’s never done anything like this before,’ Morrison told the Sun News. ‘He’s 4 years old. He’s never been out of my eyesight.’
Tabatha Morrison left her son with her mother to do some Christmas shopping. ‘Mom called me at the store and said she couldn’t find him,’ Tabatha said. She frantically sped home to find emergency workers already at the house.
“The houses here all look the same,” she said. “At home he would be able to point out his house.”
Photo: Horry County Police Dept.
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