Photo: Mass State Police
The body of a missing seven-year-old girl was found in a Massachusetts river on Monday (July 10).
Family members of Anna Mburu, 7, called Lowell Police on Sunday (July 9) after she vanished from the driveway of their home, per People. Police swiftly began the search for Mburu, who is autistic and nonverbal, using K-9 teams, drones, an air wing, ground search teams, and more.
The seven-year-old was ultimately found in the Merrimack River in Tewksbury by the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team.
"We are all heartbroken to be here this afternoon to report that it appears that the end of the search has come with the recovery of a body of a young child, preliminarily identified as 7-year-old Anna Mburu," Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.
On Monday (July 10), family and community members gathered at Saint Michael Parish to hold a prayer vigil for Anna. Lowell City Manager Tom Golden, who attended the vigil, said he was proud of the way the community banded together in search of the young girl.
"It was a beautiful thing last night to see the number of [people] walking around until 11:30 with their flashlights out looking for wherever a child could be," Golden said in a statement. "Hundreds of individual people walking up and down the streets just trying to see if there would be a better outcome."
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