The search for a 1-year-old boy who disappeared while playing outside of his Florida home over the weekend came to a tragic end when his body was located in a septic tank.
Officials say Jose Lara appears to have fallen in the tank, which was covered with weeds, dirt and plywood.
The Sheriff’s Office says there is nothing to indicate foul play.
"This is certainly not the resolution we had hoped for," Putnam County Sheriff H.D. "Gator" DeLoach said at a news conference. "This is certainly the worst possible case scenario."
Jose disappeared on Sunday afternoon while playing outside his house in Crescent City, about an hour and a half north of Orlando. Jose's mother briefly took his sister inside to clean her and when she returned, Jose was gone, according to police.
Law enforcement immediately launched a search using bloodhound tracking teams and aviation assets with infrared capability to look for Jose. His body was ultimately found Monday afternoon when investigators made the decision to empty a septic tank about 35 yards from his home.
DeLoach said the investigators' interest was piqued because the area was overgrown and covered in brush but appeared to have been recently disturbed.
"There was actually a piece of plywood that had been there for some time and appeared it had rotted to the extent that whenever he stepped on it, he actually fell in," DeLoach said. "After he fell in, it appears as though there was, I guess, some spring in the board itself and it almost came back in the same position that it was in originally."
Jose's death appears to be a tragic accident, DeLoach added.
"There's nothing to indicate at this point that there was any type of foul play suspected, but it is still an active investigation," he said.
DeLoach offered condolences to the family but said the situation serves as a reminder to parents.
"There's never an opportunity to leave them unsupervised or to take your eyes off of them, otherwise something unfortunately tragic like this might happen," he said.
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