The body of a missing Massachusetts child was found on an island in Boston Harbor.
Mohemed was a 4-year-old boy from South Boston who vanished from Castle Island on Mother’s Day evening. Massachusetts State Police said that the body of the boy was found the next day, just over a mile away on the shores of Spectacle Island, directly across from Castle Island, at 12:29 p.m.
The Massachusetts State Police expressed their sadness at the discovery and said that the “detective unit for Suffolk County” would be conducting an investigation.
A letter was sent to the family by the state police expressing their sincere sympathies.
The boy, a pre-kindergarten student at the Joseph Lee School in Dorchester, had come to a park on Castle Island shortly after 7 p.m. with his older sister and their grandfather, Soleymane Fofana. The grandfather told WCVB that he was on a phone call while the children were playing.
“I shut the phone off, and I said let me take Mohamed and his sister to the house, I call his sister to come, I said ‘Where’s your brother?’” Soleymane Fofana said.
Reports indicate that the grandfather called 911 at around 7:30 pm. According to the family, the boy had autism and was unable to communicate.
On Sunday evening, the mother asked anyone that may have seen “my little boy” to contact the outlet.
On Monday morning, the search continued as the state police reminded the public that the boy was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt with a hood, blue jeans, and blue shoes.
According to State Police spokesperson David Procopio, investigators reviewed video surveillance footage from the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The boy was seen leaving the park without his adult relative. He then disappeared off-screen and he wasn’t visible again.
The Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit, Dive Team, and Air Wing, as well as the Boston Fire Department, and Massachusetts Environmental Police, began searching for the missing child on Castle Island on Sunday. State Police reported that all three were on site on Sunday.
According to WCVB, diving teams and marine units from different agencies swept Western Way, the section of ocean that connects Dorchester Bay in the south with the Boston Main Channel to the north. An underwater line search was conducted by a diving team spanning 150 yards of the Castle Island Seawall.
The Massachusetts State Police Air Wing and the Coast Guard conducted aerial searches from Hull to Deer Island, all the way along the Boston coast.
We mourn the tragic news of Mohamed Fofana’s death. Boston Public Schools issued a statement on Monday, expressing condolences for Fofana’s family and friends.
On Sunday, the district said, “We are deeply concerned to hear of the disappearance of one of our students, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the entire school community during this difficult time. We want to assure our students, staff, and families that we are here to support them.”
