9-year-old boy dies after vanishing, falling into water outside an IKEA store

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A young boy was found dead hours after he was reported missing from an IKEA store in Brooklyn, New York.

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The 9-year-old boy who had autism and was nonverbal was pronounced dead at around 1 a.m. Thursday after his family reported him missing late Wednesday at an IKEA store in Red Hook, Brooklyn, according to WCBS.

The boy has not been identified by investigators, WNBC said. After the boy was reported missing, surveillance video showed him leaving the IKEA store through a back door.

After a three-hour search involving drones, divers, police officers and dogs, the boy was found unresponsive on the edge of the water. He was taken to the hospital where he later died. according to WABC.

The IKEA store is located by the Eric Basin and Gowanus Bay, WCBS reported.

The boy went missing just as the store was getting ready to close, according to WABC. He was inside the store originally with his family when he wandered off.

Investigators believed that the boy left the store by himself. It is unclear how he got into the water, WCBS reported.

It is believed that the boy drowned, according to WABC.