Missing autistic boy found dead in oil palm plantation drowned, say police

PETALING JAYA: An autopsy has determined drowning as the cause of death of an autistic six-year-old boy whose body was found in an oil palm plantation in Kampung Baru, near Sungai Sumun, Hutan Melintang, Perak, last night.

Bagan Datuk police chief Ali Jali said the autopsy conducted by a pathologist from Teluk Intan Hospital found no signs of injury or foul play.

“The case has been classified as sudden death,” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia today.

Ali said police received a report on the boy’s disappearance at 4.54pm yesterday. The boy’s parents last saw him in the living room of their home in Kampung Baru, Sungai Sumun.

Earlier today, Perak fire and rescue department assistant director of operations Sabarodzi Nor Ahmad said firefighters from the Hutan Melintang station were dispatched after police relayed information about the missing child at 6.24pm.

He said the boy’s father realised the child was not in the house and found that the front door had been left open.

Sabarodzi said an initial search by the father around the house and the oil palm plantation failed to locate the boy, and a police report on his disappearance was lodged at 3.30pm.

He said the boy was found in a ditch in the oil palm plantation by members of the public at 10.08pm. The body was handed over to the police for further action, and the search operation concluded at about 11pm.