Authorities have confirmed that the body found in a lake behind an Oakland Park apartment building Tuesday morning is that of a 9-year-old boy who went missing Monday evening.
Divers pulled the body of 9-year-old Samuel Sabin out of the waters behind the Crystal Lake Apartments at 4160 Northwest 21st Avenue, Broward Sheriff's Office Chief John Bukata said.
Sabin had last been seen playing in the area near his home between 4 and 9 p.m., the BSO said. Authorities had later found a pair of shoes at the edge of the water of the lake behind the building.
The body was pulled out shortly before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday after divers spent about 90 minutes in the water.
News of the death sent family members at the scene into extreme displays of grief and disbelief.
"My heart goes out to the family, I've lost a son so I can only imagine how surreal it must feel to them and their pain," neighbor Chad Burnside said.
"It's just a bad feeling because when they told me he was missing, he don't never be by his self, he always with his mom, the dad," said neighbor Unique Williams.
BSO officials said the incident is still being investigated. They said they don't know how the boy wound up in the water and have received conflicting reports of where he was in the moments before his death.
