A 6-year-old boy died Friday morning after going missing in Dundalk and being found in Lynch Cove, the Baltimore County Police Department said.

Baltimore County police began searching for Marcel Traoren around 7 a.m. after he went missing, believed to be about two hours earlier, near Sandy Plains Elementary School, spokesperson Joy Stewart said. Sandy Plains Elementary posted on Facebook that Traoren was a student there.

The search was then expanded to Lynch Cove. The Baltimore County Fire Department joined the search around 9 a.m. with 25 divers and over 75 total department personnel, according to spokesperson Travis Francis.

Around 11:30 a.m., neighbors were congregated around the cove as the Baltimore County fire and police departments neared the end of their hourslong search for the child, who was nonverbal and had autism. Several minutes later, Traoren was loaded into an ambulance.

Francis said EMS crews began “resuscitating efforts.” The child was transported to the hospital around 11:43 a.m., where he was later pronounced dead.

People standing around a tree near the cordoned-off search site soon appeared to be upset.

One woman attempted to run past the caution tape and was restrained by others. Tears streamed down the faces of people in bare socks and bonnets, who appeared to have left the house with the clothes on their backs. Cries could be heard from houses away, and some lamented aloud what went wrong. Neighbors and friends identified these people as family members of the child.

“I got a feeling they found him,” said family friend Lou Smith, who said he works with members of the child’s family at Inverness Presbyterian Church, around 11:35 a.m. Moments after, a woman in the gaggle near the tree cried, “No, no, no, no” and sank to the ground, surrounded by others.

“It’s a sorry day,” Smith said.

Lynch Cove connects to Bear Creek, a tributary of the Patapsco River. The area is home to Lynch Cove Park, Inverness Park and the West Inverness Park boat ramp. It is unknown how deep the water was where Traoren was found.

“Unfortunately, this is what we see once the weather gets warm,” said Francis, encouraging parents to do whatever possible to not let their children near water unsupervised in the summer months.

Dundalk resident Dwayne Van Pelt Sr., who saw the news on a Dundalk-area community Facebook group post, said he remembers hearing of past drownings in Lynch Cove in his 31 years living in the area. He said he came to help out with search-and-rescue efforts if civilian help was called for.

“Children go down there. They dive off the pier, go swimming,” said Van Pelt Sr. “The child was nonverbal. How do you scream for help?”