Skylar Hopson was a nonverbal girl with autism, according to the Pearland, Texas, Police Department
NEED TO KNOW
- Skylar Hopson, a 7-year-old nonverbal girl with autism, was reported missing by her mother on the morning of March 11
- Authorities used K9 units, drones, and dive teams to search, eventually locating her body in a nearby retention pond
- Police emphasized the dangers of water for children with autism
A 7-year-old nonverbal girl with autism from Texas was found dead in a retention pond hours after going missing.
According to Pearland Police Department public information officer Chad Rogers, Skylar Hopson's mom reported her missing at around 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11.
Rogers said during a press conference that Skylar was believed to have left her home on foot, wearing a tie-dye dress and carrying an iPad. He noted that it was unknown who was home at the time of her disappearance.
A social media post by the police department states that, by 12:40 p.m., the search for Skylar continued with the help of K9 units, drones, and search teams. Rogers said the team was also assisted by the Houston Police Department.
The public information officer said that the canines kept tracking to an area of a retention pond. Authorities also pinged Skylar's iPad to the area where the dogs had lost her scent.
Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
With the help of the Houston Police Department dive team, at around 2:45 pm, Skylar's body was recovered from the retention pond.
"We're not sure if that was her intended destination," said Rogers. "No indication of it. There are still more cameras we'd like to look at and try to figure out exactly what her route would have been to get into that retention pond."
While it is unknown how Skylar managed to get out of the home, Rodgers said police have video surveillance footage from a neighbor showing her walking on a neighborhood sidewalk with her iPad.
"This isn't a story that is new," said Rogers while addressing the dangers of children with autism and bodies of water.
"That was something our drone team [knew]," he said. "We went straight to water and we felt like that was something that we needed to look into as quick as possible."
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"And unfortunately, when you see that, that's the first thing," he continued. "And I mean, we have thousands of comments on our social media page that all went to that. 'Check the water, check the water, check the water. ' And I can assure our public that the first places we went was the water."
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