Indiana State Police have set up a national tip line in hopes of discovering evidence or leads in the death of a young black male child found in the woods of Washington County on Saturday night.
Anyone with information has been asked to call 1-888-437-6432.
ISP Sgt. Carey Huls announced today in a press conference at the Sellersburg Post that no new leads have been generated in the past 48 hours and that police are hoping an upcoming autopsy will shed some light on who the boy is and how he ended up where he was found.
A black male child between the ages of 5 to 8 years of age was found Saturday evening by an area resident mushroom hunting in Eastern Washington County.
Huls said the child is approximately four feet tall and has a slim build and a short haircut. Investigators believe the child’s death occurred sometime within the last week.
In a press release issued by the State Police on Sunday afternoon, Huls noted that the boy’s body was found near the road.
There was no information released about the state of the body or what the boy was dressed in.
An autopsy is scheduled with the Washington County Coronoer’s Office for Tuesday, April 19.
The resident immediately called 911 and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department responded by sending a tone to the Pierce-Polk Volunteer Fire Department regarding a possible 10-0 or death.
The Washington County Ambulance Service was called to the scene and later a second squad was called off around 8:11p.
Detectives with the Indiana State Police in Sellersburg were then called to investigate.
“[Our] number one goal is to find the identity and name of this child,” said Huls this afternoon. “We’re continuing to ask the public’s help to get that call. This was a 5 to 8-year-old young man. Someone was taking care of him. Someone had him in their home for his daily care. We still haven’t received a report of a child missing that would match his description.”
Huls said no local schools or residents had reported him missing.
“We have received numerous tips and calls in the past 24 hours. We ask that if you do have information, social media is not the way to give us a tip,” he said.
Huld did say some calls had referenced a 4-year-old boy named Codi Bigsby that has been missing since January 31 from Hampton, Virginia.
“We’ve received several calls on that and have been in contact with the Hampton Police Department. Until we have the specific information, we’re not being led in that direction,” Huls noted.
“We originally thought [the boy] might be from the local area…but because nothing has happened — we’ve been in contact with schools and other agencies [and there have been] no matches that would answer that question. This could be a child from any location in the US. We’re not going to stop looking until we find the answers,” Huls said.
“He obviously wasn’t taking care of himself.” said Huls. “Someone out there knows something. They’re either choosing not to come forward or someone hasn’t heard this information. We want to give him a voice.”
