A 7-year-old nonverbal boy on the autism spectrum drowned in a Cape Coral canal after leaving his home with his mother’s cellphone, police say. Artemis Robinson was found submerged in the water not far from where his phone’s last known location had pinged, ending a frantic search that involved neighbors and kayaks.<\/p>\n
According to The News-Press<\/a>, Cape Coral police officers responded to reports of the missing boy near Northeast 19th Terrace and Northeast 13th Place. A separate account from Yahoo News, citing WBBH<\/a>, states that police received a call about the missing child at 8:45 p.m. on Oct. 17; the two reports give different dates for when officers were alerted, and that discrepancy has not been resolved.<\/p>\n Robinson’s mother told officers she last saw her son at home with her cellphone and had tracked its last-known whereabouts, according to the report. That tracking data pointed searchers to the area near Northeast 13th Place and Northeast 19th Terrace, where the phone was ultimately found.<\/p>\n A 911 Caller Shared the Phone’s Location<\/p>\n The same caller said Robinson was wearing a diaper, and she sounded rattled while recalling the day he was born, per the report. She also told the dispatcher, \u201chis location says by a canal, last updated now, but we can’t see him,\u201d underscoring how close searchers were to the boy even as his exact location remained elusive.<\/p>\n Accounts of how Robinson was ultimately located differ. The News-Press reports that several bystanders entered a nearby canal in kayaks and found him shortly after, with a kayaker discovering him fully submerged about 10 feet from the canal bank, according to police reports. The separate account from Yahoo News, citing WBBH, instead says a neighbor, identified as Kayden McIntosh, found the boy tangled underwater roughly 30 minutes after beginning to search. Yahoo News also reports that it remains unclear how the child entered the canal.<\/p>\n Boy Died Within an Hour of 911 Call<\/p>\n Robinson died less than an hour after authorities received the 911 call, according to the report. The rapid timeline reflects how quickly a child who wanders near open water can be lost, a pattern researchers have tied specifically to children with autism.<\/p>\n