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Mukhtar M. Ibrahim

St. Cloud police: Body of missing 6-year-old found in river

Missing Child
Sheriff's department dive team members joined arms while conducting a search for 6-year-old Hamza Elmi near the location where his scooter was found on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minn., Friday, July 24, 2015. The boy's body was recovered in the river Friday.
Dave Schwarz | St. Cloud Times via AP

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Updated 1:15 p.m. | Posted 10:16 a.m.

St. Cloud police say the body of Hamza Elmi, a missing 6-year-old with special needs, was pulled from the Mississippi River late Friday morning.

"Our worst nightmare has come to fruition and a family is without a child," Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters Friday.

Hamza Elmi
Hamza Elmi
Courtesy of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

Community members and police had searched throughout the night for the boy, who was last seen Thursday around 8:30 p.m. on the 300 block of 8th Avenue N. in St. Cloud.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension early Friday had posted a bulletin asking residents to search for the boy.

Officials said Hamza was nonverbal and might hide or run when approached but that his disappearance was not considered suspicious. They said he might be using a scooter.

Authorities focused their search on the river after a resident found a scooter near the riverbank, Anderson said.

Hamza's body was retrieved about 10 feet offshore.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.