A desperate search involving multiple law enforcement agencies came to a tragic conclusion on Monday afternoon when the body of a missing four-year-old boy was found on the shores of Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor.
South Boston resident Mohamed Fofana was reported missing on Sunday, May 14, coinciding with Mother’s Day.
Wide-ranging search operations encompassed divers examining the area offshore from Castle Island’s seawall, helicopters monitoring the coastline from Deer Island to Hull, and a Boston firefighter drone inspecting the shoreline. Police persisted in searching the ground in and around Castle Island where the boy wandered off in a playground, and detectives scrutinized surveillance footage to trace the boy’s movements after he left the area.
State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio confirmed that they identified the recovered body as Fofana. State Police Crime Scene Services were also on-site to document the recovery.
Fofana disappeared around 7 pm on Sunday while playing at a Castle Island playground with his older sister and grandfather, Soleymane Fofana. When Soleymane could not find his grandson, who had a habit of wandering off, he called 911. The search operations started shortly before 9:30 pm and involved helicopters and patrol teams covering both land and sea. The search continued overnight and resumed on Monday morning.
Spectacle Island, situated over a mile away from Castle Island, is one of several beaches that overlook Boston Harbor.
On Monday morning, Mohamed’s mother, Matenjay Fofana, and his grandfather made a public appeal for help in finding the child, releasing two images of him. They shared that Mohamed was on the autism spectrum, had sickle cell disease, and was unable to speak.
Fofana was a pre-K student at Lee K-8 School in Dorchester.
The investigation into the young boy’s death is currently underway by Massachusetts State Police detectives.