WESTON, Fla. – An 18-month-old boy who was reported missing from a Weston apartment Sunday was pulled from a nearby canal Monday morning, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said.
Vihann Pullamsetti was reported missing Sunday afternoon from the Racquet Club apartments.
Sky 10, the news helicopter for News4Jax sister station WPLG, was above the complex shortly before 10 a.m. Monday as a tarp covered the boy's body near the canal. Israel said the body was found about 30 to 50 yards north of the home where Vihann was last seen.
"It's very emotional," one resident in the area told WPLG reporter Ben Kennedy. "I have a young child. I feel so bad for the family."
Detectives said Vihann was reported missing just after 4 p.m. Sunday.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said the boy, his 5-year-old sister and their parents were in town from Tampa visiting relatives for Halloween at their home at 417 Lakeview Drive. People inside the home said Vihann's mother had just changed his diaper, because they were about to head home to Tampa. They said no more than 5 minutes had passed before they realized the boy was missing.
Concepcion said the family searched for Vihann for about 15 to 20 minutes before calling 911.
Deputies searched all apartments at the Racquet Club, including the shrubs between apartment buildings. BSO divers also searched nearby canals, although murky conditions made the search difficult.
Deputies said a neighbor spotted Vihann floating in the canal at about 9:40 a.m. and notified authorities.
During a news conference Monday, a spokesman for the family thanked authorities and the hundreds of volunteers who helped in the search for Vihann.
"(He was a) very loving and very active kid, and we don't have him now," Kishore Ambatipupi said. "I don't have words for how devastated we are now."
The boy's mother, Kamala Gavara, 35, said she believes that her son could have gotten out through the back door.
Israel said some people in the community continued searching for Vihann throughout Sunday night and into Monday morning with the multiple local and federal law enforcement agencies that helped in the search.
"The loss of a child is devastating," Israel said. "As a parent, we all understand that."
Vihann is believed to have drowned, although his body has been taken to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. Foul play is not believed to be a factor in his death.