DAYTON — Dayton Police confirm a body was found in the water near Downtown Dayton Saturday evening.
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Montgomery County Regional Dispatch received a phone call around 5:35 p.m. of a reported body in the water in the area of W. Riverview Avenue and Monument Avenue, according to Lieutenant Jeffrey Thomas of Dayton Police.
“Upon arrival, crews did locate a body in the water and the body was retrieved,” he told News Center 7. “That body was a juvenile male and the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office arrived on the scene.”
News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis says Dayton Police are not ready to release the identity of the boy and it’s a tough situation for the loved ones of the victim and those who responded.
Brandon O’Neal was fishing with his family Saturday when of all a sudden, he noticed a big police presence.
“I look up and I see everybody looking inside the river over here,” he told News Center 7. ”So, the next thing I see is the police officer, he stops, he looks. He actually jumps in and then he looks away and I believe he saw the child down there.”
Elaine Smith was also there when this happened.
“I just seen a bunch of ambulances and then I seen a body or something stuck in that little ravine right there where they’re at and then they came and pulled it out,” she said.
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Lewis reports Dayton Police confirmed what O’Neal and Smith saw to be true.
Sky 7 shows images of the scene after crews pulled the boy’s body from the water.
Dayton Police say they estimate the boy to be between six and nine years old.
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Lewis says this comes two weeks since seven-year-old Lucas Rosales went missing at Eastwood MetroPark.
The park is roughly five miles away.
“We can not confirm that it is Lucas,” said Lieutenant Thomas. “The Rosales family has been notified because of the extenuating circumstances with the length of his disappearance.”
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News Center 7 saw Lucas Rosales’ family at the scene as people watched everything play out. Thomas also said clergy was there to speak with anyone impacted by this.
“Of all the calls police officers go to, those involving children are the toughest,” said Thomas. “From the moment that we received the phone to today, we have tirelessly worked to try to find Lucas. We still continue that effort today. Now to this scene, retrieving a child from the river is a very difficult situation.”
Lewis reports Dayton Police did not say when exactly they will be able to release the identity of the boy.
We will continue to provide updates on this developing story.
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