Indiana Toddler Found Dead in Neighbor's Fish Pond

Authorities in Indiana said a child who was reported missing on April 13 was found dead in the next door neighbor's fish pond.
Published: 4/15/2020, 9:18:27 AM EDT
Indiana Toddler Found Dead in Neighbor's Fish Pond
An ambulance in a file photo. (Steve Marcus/File Photo via Reuters)

Authorities in Indiana said a child who was reported missing on April 13 was found dead in the next door neighbor's fish pond.

The Evansville Police Department wrote in a news release on Facebook that the father noticed his 2-year-old son Carter Pickerell went missing Monday afternoon and called police.

Authorities were dispatched to the home on Conlin Avenue in Evansville to search for the missing boy.

Responding officers arrived at the scene within minutes, news outlets reported, but the boy had already been found in the next door neighbor's koi fish pond.

First responders performed CPR and tried to resuscitate the boy, police said. But "all lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful."

Pickerell was determined dead at the scene, with an autopsy revealing the boy drowned after falling into the pond, according to a release from Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear.

The father said in a recording of the 911 call obtained by the Courier & Press he left his son alone for just a short period inside the living room to go and get socks from another room. After he returned, Pickerell was gone.

"I didn't think he'd be able to unlock the door and go outside without me knowing," he told the outlet.

Evansville officials are currently investigating the boy's death, The Associated Press reported.

Detective Sergeant Peter DeYoung said that no criminal activity was suspected.

Evansville County is located about 170 miles southwest of Indianapolis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.