Update on missing boy in SC-Warning for all of us with autistic children

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Missing boy found dead

6-year-old's body discovered in fishing pond

Staff Photo by Wade Spees

Six-year-old Britt's parents, Terrence Britt (far right) and

Britt (background), react to the news that their son's body had been

discovered in a pond in the Texas community near St. .

BY TYRONE WALKER AND GLENN SMITH

Of The Post and Courier staff

ST. GEORGE-The exhaustive search for 6-year-old Britt came to

a sudden end Sunday when his body was found floating in the murky waters of

a pond just 400 yards from his home.

After a nine-day search involving more than 1,000 people, a neighbor

found the autistic boy's body in some 8 feet of water about noon. 's

family learned the news as they returned home from church.

Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash would not speculate on the cause of

death. He said investigators are reserving judgment until an autopsy is

conducted today.

" We haven't ruled out anything, " Nash said. " We are going to follow

the evidence to where it leads us. "

Before the discovery, 's mother, Britt, sought comfort

and prayer at her community church. As worshippers arrived around 10:30

a.m., the buzz of a search helicopter echoed through the air.

Throughout the services at St. Mark Baptist Church in the Texas

community, Britt sobbed quietly, wiped tears, prayed and leaned on her

husband's shoulder.

As the service ended, the family piled into their car and drove toward

their Alonzo Road home. But the flashing lights of a Dorchester County

sheriff's vehicle drew their attention to a nearby corner.

They pulled over and asked what was happening. They were told what

they hoped never to hear.

" No, no, no, " Britt screamed as her husband attempted to console

her.

As Terrence Britt tried to hold his distraught wife, one of their sons

fell to the ground. " Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, " he cried.

A sheriff's deputy escorted the family down dusty Primus Road where

they met with Nash. After speaking with the sheriff, Britt jumped up

and down with fists clenched before falling into her husband's arms.

Terrence Britt said later that he was trying to stay strong for his

family in the face of his son's death.

" It's been a very exhausting week, " he said. " It's a relief in a way

that no one hurt him and that he wasn't abused. "

Authorities would not discuss the condition of the body, but

Dorchester County Coroner Nisbet said it clearly had been in the

water for several days.

The discovery of 's body came just a day after authorities

suspended the ground search for the boy and indicated the FBI would assist

with the investigation into his disappearance.

disappeared from his home on March 3 wearing only shorts, a

T-shirt and his father's gray Nike sneakers. Searchers found the shoes - in

separate locations - but no trace of the boy.

A 52-year-old construction worker found 's body in a man-made,

horseshoe-shaped pond that is within sight of the Britt family's mobile

home.

Joe Coaxum, who lives nearby, went to the pond to feed the fish, a

weekly ritual he had been denied while the ground search for was

under way. He looked down Sunday and saw a " dark spot " shaped like a human

head in the water.

" I panicked, " he said. " Man, I freaked out. With all the searching

that was going on, I was beginning to think he wasn't around here. "

Coaxum drove to a nearby store, told two others of his find and then

dialed 911. Deputies found the body of the 70-pound boy floating next to

one of two small islands in the quarter-acre pond. was shirtless

and wearing blue plaid shorts.

Two different teams of divers had searched the pond, as deep as 15

feet in places, at least twice on the day the boy was reported missing. A

helicopter had also buzzed the area and a deputy walking the area had

circled the pond as late as 11 a.m. Sunday. None of them spotted the boy,

Nash said.

" When you understand the conditions, it's easy to understand why they

didn't find him, " he said.

Nash said drowning victims typically sink to the bottom, then rise

after several days.

Ed Pumphrey, chief of the River Fire Department who coordinated

the nine-day search for the boy, said the pond's murky green water was

littered with tree limbs and gave divers zero visibility.

" You couldn't see your hand in front of your face, " he said.

Divers had walked through the pond, using their hands to comb the

water and poles to probe under the surface, Pumphrey said.

's family had said he loved the water. But Nash said the boy

couldn't swim.

" This was one of our fears all along, " the sheriff said.

Dorchester County Coroner Nisbet said an autopsy is set for 11

a.m. Monday in Newberry County.

The search for was one of the largest missing person hunts in

state history, involving more than 1,000 police officers, firefighters,

military personnel and volunteers.

Working grueling shifts, they checked homes, chicken coops, fields,

swamps, sheds - anywhere the boy might be hiding or lost. As the days went

by, 's family became increasingly convinced he had been abducted and

offered a $35,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

Charlie Fox of the ton County Volunteer Rescue Squad devoted 26

hours over two days last week to the search. He was saddened Sunday to

learn of the boy's death. But he said, " It's a relief knowing the boy was

finally found. That's what we're really after. To find the missing person

and return him to his family. "

Running on adrenalin and hope, searchers like Fox shrugged off

exhaustion and covered some 10,000 acres looking for . Though he

didn't know the boy, there was never any question as to whether to join the

search, Fox said.

" If my child was missing, I would want the community out there

looking, " Fox said.

The coming days likely will be difficult for those involved in the

search, said the Rev. Rob Dewey, founder of the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy.

The disappointment of finding the boy dead can be shattering, he said.

" The emotional impact on them is very demanding, " he said. " They

probably haven't seen their families in a week. They haven't been eating

right, and they wanted to find that child alive. "

As the news spread through the community, a stream of family and

friends descended on the Britts' mobile home. They hugged and wept as

children played in the yard.

Still dressed in his orange suit from church, Terrence Britt struggled

to keep his emotions in check as he answered the questions from the media

that stood watch across the street. He had difficulty expressing himself.

" He's in the good Lord's hands now, " Terrence Britt said. " This house

will never be the same. "

Bo sen of The Post and Courier contributed to this report.