William Eschenbach 2 yo, S.C. , last seen 3/17/09 (Body Found)

[MuffyBee]

Search Continues For Missing Toddler

POSTED: 6:04 pm EDT March 17, 2009
UPDATED: 8:34 am EDT March 18, 2009

MOORE, S.C. -- The search for 2-year-old William Eschenbach continues around his family's neighborhood in the Roebuck area of Spartanburg County.
Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office's public information officer Tony Ivey said that tracking dogs have briefly picked up on the boy's scent a few times, but then lost it.

Dozens of law enforcement officers and trained search crew members searched for William overnight.

Investigators said that a main fear now is that hypothermia may have set if the child got wet and was in the cold all night.

VIDEO: Searchers Look For Missing 2 Year Old

Now that daylight has returned, crews planned to conduct a line search, where searchers stand side-by-side and walk a pre-designated grid, looking for any signs of the child.

So far, investigators said that they have seen no sign of William.
The sheriff's office is asking for people not to show up to volunteer. Ivey said that investigators will issue a request through the media later if volunteers are needed.

Ivey said more than 500 people showed up to volunteer on Tuesday after the sheriff's office put out a call for help. That number greatly exceeded the sheriff's office expectations, Ivey said.

About 150 of those volunteers were able to help out during the initial search, but most went home about 11 p.m., Ivey said.

Investigators said that they did not want volunteers in the woods in the dark. The terrain of the neighborhood is rough in places, and a creek in the area is swollen due to recent rains.

Ivey said the boy's family is assisting investigators by providing William's clothes and other things with his scent for the tracking dogs.

Investigators also said that the boy's parents helped searchers look for the child on Tuesday.

Investigators said that they expect to have another update at 10 a.m.

Initial Reports

Investigators said that William's mother told them the boy was playing outside with his siblings when she briefly went inside the home on South Tyger Lane in the Roebuck area.

That was at about 3:45 p.m., the mother said.

She told investigators that when she came back in a few minutes, the child was gone.

The mother said that she looked for the boy for about an hour, then called 911.

Deputies, emergency workers and volunteers have been looking for the child ever since in the neighborhood and the surrounding area.

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Ivey said that William has blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a dark green shirt, gray pants and blue shoes. He has an identification bracelet on his left arm with all his information on it.

The child does not have any medical conditions, investigators said. Earlier, investigators said that they believed the child might have autism.

As soon as William was reported missing, crews began searching for him, using helicopters, search dogs and heat-sensing gear.

Conditions have made the search more difficult.

"We're facing, as you know, several days of rain prior. So things are muddy, a lot of underbrush," Ivey said. "There's forest, bodies of water in the form of creeks."

Ivey said that the sheriff's office is asking anyone who lives within a two-mile radius of the intersection of Hobbysville Road and South Tyger Lane to look outside their homes and inside of their cars to see if they can locate the boy.

http://www.wyff4.com/news/18952527/detail.html

[Artcolley]

I hope they find this poor little guy quickly

[Sam]

I pray for this child a 2 year old can be so quick. I pray for his family as well.

[MuffyBee]

Sheriff: No Good News At This Point
Toddler Missing Since Tuesday Afternoon

POSTED: 6:04 pm EDT March 17, 2009
UPDATED: 12:33 pm EDT March 18, 2009
MOORE, S.C. -- The search for 2-year-old William Eschenbach continues in a heavily wooded area around his family's neighborhood in the Moore area of Spartanburg County.


Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office's public information officer Tony Ivey said that tracking dogs have briefly picked up on the boy's scent a few times, but then lost it.

The toddler has been missing since Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff: No Good News At This Point

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright held a news conference just after 11 a.m.
He asked that the large number of volunteers "be on standby mode" because the trained searchers need to continue the organized search before volunteers should get in involved.

"Untrained searchers sometimes mess things up more than they help," Wright said, adding that every trained searcher in the county is at the scene.

Wright said that deputies have talked to the boy's family, his therapist and neighbors.

He said that searchers are being refreshed with new personnel, and that crews were bringing in chain saws and a boat.

The Tyger River runs through the area near the neighborhood and Wright said the river ranges from 2 feet to 8 feet deep in the area that is being searched.

He said that divers began searching the river Wednesday morning starting at about 10 a.m., after fog lifted, but had been unable to search overnight because the swift current made conditions too dangerous.

Wright said they are searching the wooded area near the child's home both upstream and downstream of the area where dogs found a scent.

Wright said that William does not have autism, as had been previously reported. "He’s just a little slow to develop," Wright said. "He's a sweet little two-and-half-year-old child. And we're doing everything in our power to find him."

Wright said the toddler does have some "sensory issues," and may not respond to his name being called.

He said if the trained searchers are unable to find William, they will organize a grid search and will need the help of volunteers at that time.

Wright said the parents are distraught, but they have a strong faith in God.

He said William is curious and "rambunctious" and has wandered off before, but nothing of this magnitude.

"We’re hoping and praying that this little fellow has crawled up under a log or has gotten himself into something," he said.

Wright said that the river has washed out pockets in the bank, so the boat will be used to search the banks to see if William is hiding along the river.

He said the terrain is rugged and filled with holes and wildlife, including snakes.

"We’re praying that we find him safe," Wright said.

When asked if investigators suspect foul play, Wright said, "No, not yet."

Search Goes On Through The Night

Dozens of law enforcement officers and trained search crew members searched for William overnight.

Investigators said that a main fear now is that hypothermia may have set if the child got wet and was in the cold all night.

The sheriff's office is asking for people not to show up to volunteer. Ivey said that investigators will issue a request through the media later if volunteers are needed.

Ivey said more than 500 people showed up to volunteer on Tuesday after the sheriff's office put out a call for help. That number greatly exceeded the sheriff's office expectations, Ivey said.

About 150 of those volunteers were able to help out during the initial search, but most went home about 11 p.m., Ivey said.

Investigators said that they did not want volunteers in the woods in the dark. The terrain of the neighborhood is rough in places, and a creek in the area is swollen due to recent rains.

Ivey said the boy's family is assisting investigators by providing William's clothes and other things with his scent for the tracking dogs.

Investigators also said that the boy's parents helped searchers look for the child on Tuesday.

Investigators said that they expect to have another update at 10 a.m.

Initial Reports

Investigators said that William's mother told them the boy was playing outside with his siblings when she briefly went inside the home on South Tyger Lane in the Roebuck area.

That was at about 3:45 p.m., the mother said.

She told investigators that when she came back in a few minutes, the child was gone.

The mother said that she looked for the boy for about an hour, then called 911.

Deputies, emergency workers and volunteers have been looking for the child ever since in the neighborhood and the surrounding area.

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Ivey said that William has blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a dark green shirt, gray pants and blue shoes. He has an identification bracelet on his left arm with all his information on it.

The child does not have any medical conditions, investigators said. Earlier, investigators said that they believed the child might have autism.

As soon as William was reported missing, crews began searching for him, using helicopters, search dogs and heat-sensing gear.

Conditions made the overnight search more difficult.

"We're facing, as you know, several days of rain prior. So, things are muddy -- a lot of underbrush," Ivey said. "There's forest, bodies of water in the form of creeks."

Ivey said that the sheriff's office is asking anyone who lives within a two-mile radius of the intersection of Hobbysville Road and South Tyger Lane to look outside their homes and inside of their cars to see if they can locate the boy.
http://www.wyff4.com/news/18952527/detail.html

[no rose colored glasses]

Hopefully this little guy will be found safe, some kids at that age are so curious and move so fast, just turn your head for a second and they are gone. I hope today little William is reunited with his family.

[Nut44x4]

March 18, 2009

Officials says they have found the body of the little boy that went missing Tuesday afternoon.
Two year old William Eschenbach apparently walked out of his backyard around 3:45pm Tuesday on South Tyger Lane in Moore. Sheriff Wright says the boy’s mother went inside for a moment when he walked out a back yard gate.
Sheriff Chuck Wright says they found footprints that led to the water. A cadaver dog went in the water to follow the scent and they found the boy near the water’s edge.
The sheriff says they are now going back to take care of the family.
They ask for prayers for the family, the searchers, emergency crews and the coroner.
wspa.com will update this story as soon as we have new information.
http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/live_stream_body_of_missing_boy_found_in_spartanburg_county/15756/

[Nut44x4]

Poor little fella 

[Nut44x4]

Associated Press
 
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 3:52 p.m.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The body of a 2-year-old South Carolina boy was found in a river swollen by recent rains Wednesday a day after the child wandered out of his family's yard near Spartanburg, authorities said.

Searchers found the body of William Eschenbach around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in a river about a mile from his home, said Master Deputy Tony Ivey, spokesman for the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

"It's real tragic thing to happen to a family," Ivey said.

Authorities have said foul play is not suspected.

The search for the boy began late Tuesday afternoon at a home in a heavily wooded area near Moore in southwestern Spartanburg County, about 85 miles northwest of Columbia.

The child's mother told authorities she went inside the family's home briefly on Tuesday afternoon, leaving William playing with his sister in the yard. When she returned at around 3:45 p.m., the boy was gone.

Investigators have said they believe William may have wandered away from his home through an open gate.

The mother said she looked for about an hour before calling authorities, who used helicopters, dogs, heat-seeking gear and divers to try to locate the boy in the heavily wooded area around his home. Searchers found child-sized footprints that led to the water and sent in dogs to follow the boy's scent, Ivey said.

William was found near the water's edge. The part of the Tyger River that runs near the boy's neighborhood is two-to-eight feet deep in the area that was searched, Ivey said.

The search was complicated by dense foliage and the river's swift current, which Ivey said was accelerated by recent rainfall in the area — something that might have attracted the boy to its shores.

"It's not very hard to imagine a little two-year-old being adventurous in there and just taking off through the woods playing," Ivey said. "The parents said that he had a fascination for the water. So to see the river like that, and the swift current, and the sounds that it was making, probably enticed him to get a little too close. He just slipped right in."

Ronnie Faulkner, a 41-year-old roofer who has hunted in the area for over a decade, joined volunteers and officials searching for the toddler on Tuesday night. When he saw a diaper floating in the water the next day, Faulkner said he knew it was too late.

"It's a tragedy," he told The Associated Press. "I knew he was dead before the phone rang and they called to say they found the body."

An autopsy on the child was planned for Wednesday afternoon, Coroner Rusty Clevenger said.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20090318/NEWS/903181992/1016/OPINION02?Title=Search-continues-for-missing-SC-child

[no rose colored glasses]

How horrible, such a sweet little boy, prayers for the family and friends. 

[cookie]

How horrible, such a sweet little boy, prayers for the family and friends. 

Yep...ditto what Rosie just said...how very sad..

[MuffyBee]

Prayers for the family and friends  of little William and may he rest in peace. 

[Red]

How very sad. OMG those are the bluest eyes.

How heart breaking.

You just can't turn your back a second these days. The family must just be devastated.

[Scuterputer]

God, that tore me up. Toddlers can be so quick, and he looked so sweet. I can't imagine how the family feels. My prayers go out to them.