HAUSER, Ore. — The Coos County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the body of missing 5-year-old Joshua James McCoy has been found.
McCoy went missing three days ago with nearly 100 people going out to search for him Tuesday, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and local fire departments.
"It is with immense sadness that we have to report that missing Joshua McCoy has been found deceased," CCSO stated in a news release around 6p.m. Tuesday. McCoy had been missing since the late evening of Saturday, Nov. 9. He was reported to North Coos dispatch via a third party at 6:27 p.m. First responders arrived on scene at 6:45 p.m.
Soon after, it was discovered the child had a cellphone, and a phone-ping of that phone was conducted.
"The information related to the phone-ping did not provide any fruitful information," CCSO said.
Several Deputies began a search of the property, while investigating the allegations of McCoy being picked up by a known family member, which was later found not to be factual, according to the Sheriff's Office. An ‘Attempt To Locate’ (ATL) was sent out to all surrounding agencies.
On Sunday, November 10, deputies continued to search the property and surrounding areas, along with several volunteers from Coos County Search and Rescue, including K9 units, ground and drone operators. A pond on the property was drained and nothing of interest was located.
During Sunday’s search, additional resources were requested from neighboring counties in southern Oregon and northern California. Law enforcement remained on scene until the following crews arrived in the morning to continue the investigation.
Around 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, deputies and search and rescue volunteers continued the operation. Several members of local fire departments arrived to assist. Additional CORSAR assistance was requested for the next day consisting of search and rescue members from several counties in Oregon and California.
On Tuesday, November 12, the search continued with help from federal partners, local Search and Rescue, along with CORSAR.
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, around 12:30 p.m., McCoy was discovered deceased and found approximately 1.6 miles straight-line distance northwest from the child’s residence, and almost two miles by road, police said.
The investigation is ongoing.