POLK COUNTY, Fla. — After a nearly seven-hour search on the ground and in the air, a missing 6-year-old special-needs boy was found dead in a retention pond Friday night, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
Adam Roach's mother reported him missing from Carlton Arms Apartments on Shepherd Road in south Lakeland at about 4 p.m., the Sheriff's Office said.
He was found dead in a retention pond directly behind his home at about 10:40 p.m. by the PCSO dive team and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel, investigators said.
Adam was a student at Dr. N.E. Roberts Elementary school near Lakeland.
Polk County Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd released the following statement Saturday:
"Adam Roach was, as we say within the district, 'one of ours.' He had just completed kindergarten at Roberts Elementary, and faculty and staff at the school were looking forward to seeing him when school starts next week. He was a precious child lost much too soon, and we are all grieving. He and his family are in our prayers. We will have grief counselors on site at the school on Monday and when school begins on Thursday to assist employees and students."
Cox Media Group
