Questions still remain in the death of Alejandro Ripley, who was allegedly abducted before his body was found hours later. NBC 6’s Willard Shepard reports.
What to Know
- An Amber Alert was issued for 9-year-old Alejandro Ripley out of Miami-Dade
- The Amber Alert was canceled after Ripley's body was found Friday morning
- Ripley's mother said he had been abducted by two men while they were driving Thursday night
An Amber Alert issued for a Miami-Dade boy who was reported to have been abducted was cancelled after authorities said the 9-year-old's body was found Friday morning.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said the body of Alejandro Ripley was discovered hours after the Amber Alert had been issued.
Miami-Dade Police confirmed a body of what appeared to be a child had been found in the area Southwest 62nd Street and 138th Court. Footage showed the body in a waterway near the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club.
Miami-Dade Police Det. Chris Thomas told reporters at a news conference Friday that someone reported the body in the waterway shortly before 8 a.m.
"We cannot make any confirmations as to who this individual is at this time but we can say that there is a deceased, what appears to be a child, a body in the body of water on the south side of this golf course," Thomas said.
Local
Ripley had been last seen wearing a blue Captain America shirt, black shorts and black Crocs. The body found Friday morning had a Captain America shirt.
Officers had initially responded to the parking lot of a Home Depot at 15750 Southwest 88th Street late Thursday night looking for Ripley, who they described as autistic and non-verbal.
Miami-Dade police said Ripley's mother, 47-year-old Patricia Ripley, told investigators that they were driving on Southwest 88th Street when she noticed they were being followed by an unknown vehicle that tried to side-swipe her vehicle.
Patricia Ripley said the other vehicle forced her to veer onto Southwest 158th Avenue and she was blocked in while a man who was a passenger in the other car ambushed her and demanded drugs, police said.
Patricia Ripley said she told the man she didn't have any drugs, and he took her cellphone and the boy and fled in the other car, police said.
Thomas said homicide investigators were at the scene Friday, and detectives were interviewing Patricia Ripley.
"We're taking every detail into consideration, that was the statement that she gave us, is that her child was abducted, of course that's definitely a possibility and we're going to go with that information and investigate that case as it is an abduction," Thomas said.
Check back with NBC 6 on air and online for updates.
