A 4 year old boy who went missing in a Viera neighborhood Monday, prompting a law enforcement search, was found drowned in a pond behind his home, deputies said.

  • Boy found dead in retention pond near Viera home
  • Family member was watching the boy
  • No word on whether deputies will file charges against family member

When neighbors heard that a 4-year-old boy had gone missing from his home on Ayrshire Circle in Viera they jumped into action.

“We were hoping that maybe since he was a little boy, he had wandered over to the ball field or the park. So that’s where we were all searching,” neighbor Billie Poehailos said.

Sheriff’s deputies first started searching for the boy around 3:30 p.m. They say a family member was watching him and at some point he had wandered outside.

 “We responded in full force with our aviation team, our dive team, because of the logistics of the area, and our K9 units to help locate the boy,” Brevard County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Dave Jacobs said. 

A dive team found the boy just after 5 p.m. in a retention pond just a few feet from the shore, they say it was not far from where is home was located.

No word has yet been released on whether charges will be brought against the family member watching the boy, but the community is grieving for their loss.

“Your heart just breaks, because as a parent, it’s the worst thing you can ever possibly imagine, so for another parent to have to go through that, your heart aches for them,” Billie said.

Brevard County deputies will be investigating this as a death investigation; they hope to have more information on the case in the coming days.