Police Rescue Missing 6-Year-Old Non-Verbal Child With Autism From Pond Behind Germantown Library
Gaithersburg, MD – Montgomery County Police officers from the 5th District safely recovered a missing 6-year-old non-verbal boy with autism after finding him in the middle of a pond located behind the Germantown Library.
Around 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday, August 6, officers were alerted in the 19800 block of Century Blvd. by a parent who reported their child missing for about 45 minutes. The parent noted the boy had wandered off before but was unsure of his direction this time.
As officers searched the area, a community member informed them they had just seen a child near the pond behind the library. An officer quickly ran to the location, spotted the boy playing in the water, and entered the pond to carry him to safety. Montgomery County Fire Rescue evaluated the child and confirmed he was uninjured.
Officers later learned the boy could not swim, and the pond’s water level was unusually low at the time.
“This could have ended very differently,” said Officer Laurie Reyes of the department’s Autism/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Unit. “When someone with autism or another developmental disability goes missing, call 9-1-1 immediately. Every minute matters.”
Reyes shared that MCPD officers locate three to eight individuals on the autism spectrum each week, with more than half of those cases involving delayed calls for help.
Children with autism are often attracted to water. To help prevent such incidents, the department offers free safety kits for families, which include window decals, a special MCPD T-shirt, and other safety resources.
The IDD Unit also provides outreach, training, and support for individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, and the community. More information is available on the unit’s Facebook page.
