Missing 6-YO Autistic Non-verbal Boy Found Dead in a ‘Small Pond’ | He Was Discovered Hours After Vanishing

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on July 12, 2022. It has since been updated.

A missing 6-year-old non-verbal, autistic boy from Virginia was found dead after being reported missing Sunday evening. Landon "Waldy" Raber went missing on Sunday evening and was found the next day. According to his family, his body was discovered around 5:30 a.m. on Monday. The Buckingham County Sheriff's Office, as well as all Volunteer Fire Departments, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management Search and Rescue, and Virginia State Police helicopter and canine units helped in the search, per ABC News 4. The Toga Volunteer Fire Dept.  wrote on Facebook that all first responders have cleared the scene since. Authorities have not revealed how the boy died.

The young child was found in a "small pond on the property that he went missing from," the Buckingham County Department of Emergency Services said in a post on Facebook. "While this was not the outcome anyone was wanting, or expecting, we'd like to thank everyone who was involved with searching all evening and all night," the department said. "This includes, but [is] not limited to, VSP, all Buckingham Volunteer Fire Departments, BCDES, deputies from multiple other counties, and personnel from other volunteer fire departments. Please keep the family in your thoughts, and respect their privacy during this difficult time," they concluded.

“We were able to do everything from, you know, your widespread mainline searches just to cover that square footage in those big areas, to your focused efforts in the creek bottoms and things like that,” said Cody Davis, the Incident Commander and Chief of the Department of Emergency Services for Buckingham County, according to WRIC. The search was extensive and lasted through the night, but Davis was grateful to the community for coming together to help.  “It was a lot to process in terms of space and size. And if we weren’t fortunate enough to have the amount of folks come out that we did, things would have been a little bit more difficult,” Davis said. “It does paint a perfect picture of Buckingham County as a community. We’re a very close-knit group that has its positives and its negatives, and I think last night was a glaring depiction of a positive,” Davis added. The family's community came together to pay tribute to Raber on Monday afternoon. "This will be a place to pray for and support the family and also to remember the sweet life of Landon 'Waldy' Raber!" a statement on the event's Facebook page read. "His short life has touched so many people and we want to take this time to show our support and grieve together as a community/friends/family!"

References:

https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/community-gathers-to-remember-life-of-6-year-old-autistic-boy-found-dead-in-buckingham-county/

https://www.facebook.com/122847697776600/photos/a.1396382520423105/5438960089498641/

https://www.facebook.com/Buckingham-County-Department-of-Emergency-Services-105506711869002/

Cover Image Souce: Facebook | Toga Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc