{"id":186422,"date":"2026-03-10T23:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T23:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/186422\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T23:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T23:18:07","slug":"latest-autism-drowning-in-psl-renews-focus-on-prevention-and-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/186422\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest autism drowning in PSL renews focus on prevention and resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Another child with autism has been found dead in a body of water in Port St. Lucie, marking the third drowning reported by CBS12 News involving an autistic child in the city in the last seven months.<\/p>\n

Police say the latest case happened Monday night, when officers found 5-year-old Zam Tuang in a nearby retention pond near the intersection of SW Juliet Avenue and SW Hampshire Lane after a search involving drones, bloodhounds, and officers. Officers and fire rescue crews performed CPR for an extended period, but Zam was pronounced dead at the hospital around 11 p.m.<\/p>\n

See Also: ‘He was floating’: Missing 5-year-old boy with autism found dead in pond in Port St. Lucie<\/a><\/p>\n

This tragedy follows two similar incidents:<\/p>\n

November 2025: A non-verbal 5-year-old boy was found dead<\/a> in a lake after an extensive search.<\/p>\n

August 2025: A 13-year-old autistic teen drowned<\/a> in a canal, prompting PSL Police to warn families about increased wandering risks.<\/p>\n

These cases highlight a persistent and painful pattern in the community \u2014 children on the autism spectrum are at higher risk of wandering, and many are drawn to water due to its sensory appeal.<\/p>\n

CBS12 News is speaking with experts about why this keeps happening and what families can do to reduce the risk.<\/p>\n

Els for Autism Executive Director Marlene Sotelo is discussing behavioral tendencies, sensory factors, and prevention strategies for families.<\/p>\n

Gene Saunders, founder of Project Lifesaver, is sharing tools and technology that can help locate missing children faster \u2014 including tracking bracelets now used by several agencies nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Another child with autism has been found dead in a body of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-186422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}