CORONER: BODY OF 5-YEAR-OLD BOY WITH AUTISM FOUND IN CANAL

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Police are calling it "a tragic accident" after the body of a 5-year-old boy with autism was found in a canal about a quarter mile from a residence in eastern Pennsylvania where he wandered away from a New Year's Eve party.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim says an autopsy Monday will help determine when Jayliel Vega Batista entered the water at Canal Park in Allentown.

He had been missing since Thursday night.

Police say he was playing with a tablet computer when he reportedly wandered away barefoot and without a coat.

1 more paragraph at link.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AUTISTIC_BOY_MISSING_PAOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-02-18-07-25

[shenmue]

1. ...

[get the red out]

2. So sad

Poor little guy.

[Kalidurga]

3. I hope they make sure it was an accident

and not someone not paying attention to where their kid was. I have 3 kids and I know you can't always know where they are. Still I have seen too many stories of kids wandering off because no one was paying attention and that ended tragically. Sometimes it is because the adults didn't do due diligence in knowing where their kids are.

[Skittles]

6. yup

one time in rural Texas, I went around a turn in the road where there was a church, and saw a very tiny child crawling up the sloped embankment, VERY close to the road......by the church there was a picnic - lots of adults and children at a big table, and a volleyball game in progress.....I braked and sounded a solid horn and hoo boy did they come running - very scary indeed

[Kalidurga]

8. Yep

I am not rushing to judgement at least I don't think I am. I don't know what happened and like I said kids are hard to keep track of. Turn your back for even a second and they can dart out in the road, wander off away from a large group, and worse.

[trillion]

12. I've picked up 3 babies(including two times for the same child under 1 years old) that were in the

road and I had to stop for them or would have ran them over. I threatened to call the police in each case and the family members insisted their loved one was a really good parent each time. No, you're not a good parent when your baby has crawled into the road.

[ebayfool]

9. The boy was autistic, that can be even harder to keep an eye on.

My 6 year old grandson is high functioning autistic and you have to be hyper vigilant when watching him. He can see something that catches his interest and be gone in a heartbeat! What frightens my daughter is she worries even when she sleeps cuz the boy has climbed out his bedroom window once to see a kitty out there and she woke up to a neighbor that had corralled him coming out. His reasoning was mom told him to never go out the door so he didn't! He was 4 at the time and it was 7:00AM. Scary smart, sweet natured, unable to read people at all and very literal minded!

Autism adds a whole new dimension to keeping an eye on 'em or due diligence. I would never assume a lack of either when hearing of a case like this poor child.

My heart goes out to the child and his family.

[Kalidurga]

10. Well I have a more personal reason for not assuming, but at the same time wanting to make sure.

When I was a child I was quite the escape artist myself. I climbed out of my crib at one point, opened a latch that my parents set up high, and walked a couple blocks down the street in the middle of winter. That wasn't the first time just the time I will share online. It wasn't the last either. So, I know kids do things. Mine never did anything like that so I guess I was lucky. On the other hand I know some people and I have seen this as well don't pay the slightest attention to their children and they are shocked when they find them in a bad situation. I don't know how to sort them either. How can you show a parent did or didn't do enough? I feel sorry for them either way. Losing a child causes a lifetime of trauma.

[ebayfool]

11. I was lucky with mine too.

But when I babysit Cameron, it's me down for the count when I get home! Love, love, love my boy - but he can run me ragged in a matter of hours!

[kimbutgar]

4. So sad I was hoping they would find him alive :(

[a kennedy]

5. There is a place for these little angels...........

Hope it's heaven as people talk of.

[Laffy Kat]

7. Afraid this wasn't going to end well.

Sure hope there was no foul play, although tragic either way.

[trillion]

13. RIP. Far too young.

[mrmpa]

14. One of the fears that parents of children with autism have is.........

their child walking away. Is there a way these parents can have their child implanted with a GPS chip, that would help allay their fears? Just asking.