Indiana State Police asks for help to identify body of Black boy found in wooded area
An unidentified body of a young boy was found by a mushroom hunter in southern Indiana. The child, who seems to have died within the last week, is believed to be between the ages of five and eight. Indiana State Police have asked for the public's help in identifying the child who has been described as black, four-feet-tall, with a slim build and short hair.
The body of the boy was found around 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 16, by a mushroom hunter in the heavily wooded area of Washington County, two hours away from Indianapolis. The child was found in a heavily wooded area, a short distance off a roadway. "It was a very disturbing, very shocking, very sad event... We need your help to bring justice to this young boy who didn't deserve [this]," said Sergeant Carey Huls at a press conference on Sunday, April 17.
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The Indiana State Police made a Facebook post asking for public help in the identification of the boy, saying, "ISP Requests Public’s Assistance in Death Investigation of Child Washington County. The Indiana State Police in Sellersburg are requesting the public's assistance in a death investigation that began on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Around 7:30 Saturday evening, while mushroom hunting, an area resident found the body of a black male child near a roadway in a heavily wooded area of eastern Washington County. The resident immediately called 911 and the Washington County Sheriff's Department responded."
"Detectives with the Indiana State Police in Sellersburg were then called to investigate. At this time in the investigation, detectives need the public's help in identifying the child. He is described as being a young, black male between the ages of five years old and eight years old. The child is approximately four feet tall and has a slim build and a short haircut. Investigators believe the child's death occurred sometime within the last week. Investigators have not released a time or cause of death as an autopsy is pending. If anyone has information that could help in the identification of this child, please call Detective Matt Busick with the Indiana State Police in Sellersburg at 1-812-248-4374 or 1-800-872-6743," it concludes.
Though the police have contacted state and local agencies, the pending missing child reports do not match the description of the little boy found on Saturday. At the moment, there is not an ongoing murder investigation, but authorities state that could change after obtaining the autopsy results, reports Daily Mail.
WDRB reports, "There's somebody at an Easter table this weekend that maybe has somebody that's not there and were expecting to come. There's family members, friends, somebody from school perhaps, that knows maybe there were issues, that thinks this could possibly be that child... He deserves answers, he deserves our help. We're going to turn over every stone, we're going to look everywhere we have to," said Huls.