3-year-old found dead after playing in the rain at 1 a.m., Tennessee cops say
The search for a missing toddler in a Tennessee neighborhood ended in tragedy when his body was found in a nearby lake, deputies said.
On July 7, a resident in a Memphis neighborhood saw two toddlers playing in the rain around 1 a.m. police told WREG.
A neighbor had seen the children on her doorbell camera, WMC reported, and after asking her neighbors if their children were outside, she called the sheriff’s office.
When deputies arrived, they found a 4-year-old girl, but her 3-year-old brother, Israel Powell, was missing, according to WHBQ.
The 4-year-old was taken to the hospital, and deputies started going door-to-door, asking residents if they had seen Israel, WREG reported.
“A deputy (came) to the door around 2:00 this morning,” neighbor Charles Fox told WMC. “He had his phone and he asked if I had seen this kid or if I knew him. I didn’t.”
Around 5:30 a.m., the children’s mother called the sheriff’s office to report her children missing, not knowing that her daughter was already in the hospital, WHBQ reported.
Nearly 12 hours after the children were first spotted outside, deputies discovered the body of a child in the neighborhood’s lake, according to a Twitter post from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
On July 8, the medical examiner confirmed the body was 3-year-old Israel.
The lake is over half a mile from the children’s home, WMC reported.
“All morning when I saw the news I was just praying that he wouldn’t be gone,” family member Kim Brewer told WREG. “I’m sorry y’all, I never had something to touch me this close … and just pray for us.”
No charges have been filed in connection with Israel’s death, but the investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 2:59 PM with the headline "3-year-old found dead after playing in the rain at 1 a.m., Tennessee cops say."
