HENRICO, Va. (WTVR) -- Police recovered a child's body in a swimming pool near where a missing 11-year-old boy was last seen Saturday night.
Police told CBS 6 News that Frederick "Fred" Fitzgerald had gone to the pool Saturday afternoon and was then supposed to go a friend’s house around 7:30 p.m. That was the last time his mother said she saw her son. The boy was reported missing around 10 p.m.
Fourteen hours after a massive search , police said that they discovered a child or teen's body in the pool around 12:30 p.m. at the Shannon Townhomes along Windowmere Avenue.
Police have yet to determine who it is, but have called off the search for Fred.
"I saw his mom. Everybody was by the pool. They were searching for him. So, the last thing that I thought is that he was in that pool," said one resident who wished remain anonymous.
The woman said she spotted the missing boy’s flip flops near the pool’s edge. At the same time, she noticed police doing what they could to recover a body from under water.
“If I would've knew somebody was missing, especially a child, I would've jumped in the pool with my clothes on, because that could've been my little sister," she said.
The woman also said the kids warned the lifeguard Saturday about one of them jumping in the pool.
"He jumped in as soon as the kids told him what happened,” the woman said. “He made sure he jumped in, but he didn't see anything."
Malachi Minor, one of Fred's close friends, said the two never played in the deep end, but stayed in the shallow waters.
"We'll just stay in that area because we didn't know who could swim. So we just stayed with them,” said Malachi, who described his buddy as talented and funny.
Malachi's Grandmother, Barbara Pinkney, said there are more questions than answers at this point.
Fitzgerald's family is waiting to get word on whether the recovered body is that of their loved one. While neighbors here are praying it's not, but they fear the worst.
"It could've been one of these two...you know..my grandkids. It's sad. My heart goes out [to his family],” said Pinkney.
CBS 6 spoke with one of Frederick Fitzgerald’s family members who said everyone is having a tough time. Even though police have not identified the body, they believe it is Fred.
Henrico Lieutenant C.J. Maurice tells CBS 6, the preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play when the body was removed from the pool.
Stay with WTVR.com and watch CBS 6 News for the latest on this developing story.
