Hiker Discovers Boy's Body on Trail

Las Vegas police are seeking to identify him
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2021 3:34 AM CDT
Boy Found Dead on Las Vegas Hiking Trail
A digitally enhanced image of the boy whose body was found.   (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children via LVMPD)

A hiker made a horrifying discovery Friday morning: the body of a boy behind a bush. The boy's body was near the Mountain Springs trailhead, between Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada, the Review-Journal reports. Las Vegas police are now asking the public's help identifying the child, whom they estimate to have been between 8 and 12 years old. He is described as being Latino, 4'11", and 123 pounds. "We are asking teachers in particular to pay close attention to this new digitally enhanced photo," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement, per CNN.

The original sketch that was released had led a frantic mother to contact police Saturday morning, saying the child looked like her son, whose father had picked him up from her Thursday night, the AP reports. Police, however, were ultimately able to track down the father and his 8- and 11-year-old sons camping in a part of Utah with limited cellphone reception. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children later assisted the LVMPD with the digitally enhanced sketch, NBC News reports. No details have yet been made public about how, when, or where the boy died, or whether his body was placed on the trail. (More Las Vegas stories.)

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