Missing 4-year-old Hopkins boy found dead, officials say
HOPKINS, Minn. — A 4-year-old boy who went missing in Hopkins on Sunday morning has been found dead, police said.
The body of Waeys Ali Mohamed was discovered in the Minnehaha Creek on Monday at about 10:40 a.m., the Hopkins Police Department said.
"This is a horrible, tragic accident from everything that we are able to determine," said Cpt. Craig Kreiling.
Police say the search was challenging due to the creek's high water level and swift current, but they didn't stop until he was located.
Police issued an emergency alert on Sunday morning for the boy. According to police, he had last been seen around 7:30 a.m. along the 1200 block of Second Street Northeast. Kreiling said the boy's body was found about 500 yards from his apartment building.
Law enforcement agencies from surrounding communities, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and at one point someone from the FBI, were dispatched to the scene to help with the search — in addition to hundreds of everyday people who showed up to help, Kreiling said.
"We provided a great deal of public resources towards this, but what was truly meaningful in this case is the amount of community members that came out to help. And I think that speaks volumes to the community that we have here in Hopkins that we want to help one another," Kreiling said.
The boy likely died from an accidental drowning, but police say they're working with sheriff's and medical examiner's offices of Hennepin County to determine the exact cause of death.
"There's a lot of rumor and conjecture about this case, about different things that have gotten posted on social media. What I can say is we have evidence that Waeys left this apartment building on his own accord, and there is no room to try to blame anybody else right now," Kreiling said.