Searchers discovered the lifeless body of a four-year-old autistic girl who had gone missing from her family’s rental home in Florida.
The body of young Evelyn K. Geer was discovered close to the water’s edge, just behind the rented home in Port Charlotte, Florida, according to an announcement by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Evelyn was reported missing at 1 a.m. on June 2, and her body was found six hours later.
Search efforts incorporated aviation units and a specially trained bloodhound in an operation centered around the area 30 miles north of Fort Myers.
The sheriff’s office report says that Evelyn’s body was located during a thorough search involving a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat. The child had wandered off the premises of a Vrbo rental property (an Expedia Group entity), where her family was living after Hurricane Ian left them homeless the previous September. The rental home unfortunately lacked a deadbolt lock, a security feature the family commonly used to accommodate Evelyn’s autism.
Recordings of a heart-wrenching 911 call from Evelyn’s mother were released by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. During the call, Evelyn’s mother described her daughter as only wearing a diaper and having long brown hair tied into a ponytail, while she expressed her shock and horror over the situation.
Evelyn’s body was discovered behind homes on Barksdale Street, Port Charlotte, close to a canal. A local resident, Steve Stotler, shared his experience of being woken by helicopter noises at 4 a.m. before a police officer told him about the search for the girl.
