SIMPSONVILLE, SC — An 8-year-old student was found dead in a pond Thursday after running away from his classroom at a South Carolina elementary school, authorities said.
Lionel Ramirez Cervantes was in a classroom with two other students and three school staff members when he ran into the hallway, outside the building and then over or through a fence and into a field of tall grass, where he could no longer be seen, Greenville County Schools said in a statement.
Police were immediately called, and officers, school officials and community members began searching. Divers found Lionel’s body about four hours later in a nearby pond, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) from Bell’s Crossing Elementary in Simpsonville, authorities said.
“There are many broken hearts today at that school and in that community,” Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference.
Before the boy’s body was found, officers indicated he may have autism or another developmental disorder and may not respond to normal verbal cues.
Officers and school officials are investigating what exactly happened and how the child got off school grounds, but they stress that school staff responded quickly and tried to capture him.
“This was our greatest fear today, and we are grieving as a community. We are devastated to lose one of our children. We will stand together with the support of the district,” Chris Ross, principal of Bell’s Crossing Elementary School, said in a statement.
The school remained open Friday and grief counselors were deployed for students and teachers. The district also said it was offering Lionel’s family any support they needed.
An autopsy on the boy was scheduled for Friday.
