A search for a missing teen with autism has been canceled after the discovery of a body found floating in an Orange County lake, according to the Maitland Police Department.
Around 7 p.m. Sunday, a member of the public reported seeing the body in Lake Eulalia north of Lake Avenue. Police and fire officials reported to the scene and recovered the body from about 8 feet of water and 20 feet from the shoreline, according to a press release.
The search for 13-year-old Na’Sean Edward Kirkland had been focusing on Lake Eulalia as well as lakes Catherine and Sybelia since he was reported missing from the Windgrove neighborhood of Maitland on Saturday afternoon.
FDLE sent out a missing child alert noting he was nonverbal and attracted to water. Maitland police said the teen’s parents reported he was autistic, had often left home or school and had previously been found in neighbors’ pools, but he had limited swimming capabilities.
Police made a tentative identification as the body matched the appearance and last-known clothing of the missing teen, although the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the identity and determine cause of death, the release stated.
FDLE canceled the missing child alert early Monday morning.
The teen’s family met briefly with a victim advocate from Orange County.
Police stated their search had been more focused on Lake Sybelia based on eyewitness reports. The teen’s brother who had last been seen with him when they left their home Saturday afternoon had been found off of Lake Sybelia Drive.
Lake Eulalia is 6-acre body of water next to the Thurston House Bed and Breakfast north of Lake Avenue, and a short distance from the family home, police said.