‘Holding on to a dead tree stump’: Deputies find missing boy with autism in a pond

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County deputies released body camera video showing the moment a missing 5 year-old-boy was rescued from a pond.

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The sheriff’s office said they responded to a call on Tuesday in Valmont Lane in Deltona where a family reported their son was missing.

Deputies said the boy’s father told them his 5-year-old son escaped the home through a second-story door, which set off an alarm.

The family immediately began looking, asked neighbors for help, and called 911.

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Deputies said they searched the house and the immediate area with no luck.

Officials said the boy had autism and was attracted to water; deputies began to check bodies of water near the neighborhood.

VSO said Deputy Brough and others headed for a pond a few blocks away behind Toluca Court.

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VSO said that around 7:48 p.m., Deputy Brough heard a voice and spotted the boy out in the water, hanging onto a log.

“He was holding on to a dead tree stump, barely sticking out of the water, I was able to run out to the water and grab him, and when I did, the tree stump broke in half. I’m glad we were out there when we did.” Brough said.

Deputy Brough jumped into the pound and carried the boy out of the water, where he was medically cleared and returned to his family.

Deputy Brough said training and a sighting from neighbors led him to this swampy pond about half a mile away from the home where the boy was reported missing.

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