Missing 5-year-old boy tragically found dead after vanishing while his mom napped

An innocent nap with a mother and her child has ended in tragedy.

5-year-old Joshua James McCoy and his mother took a nap at 1pm on November 9 in Oregon. But when the mom woke up at 5.30pm she found that her son was missing.

According to Coos County Sherriff's Office, Joshua - who had autism - was reported missing at 6:27 pm that same evening.

After first responders arrived on the scene, it was discovered that Joshua had a cell phone with him and a phone-ping was conducted. Unfortunately, it did not lead to any particularly useful information in the search.

5-year-old Joshua went missing on Saturday 9th November

During the continued efforts on Sunday November 10, deputies checked the property where he and his mother took a nap and the surrounding areas.

Several volunteers from Coos County Search and Rescue including K9 units, and ground and drone operators, joined the deputies in the search to find the boy.

A pond in the area was drained and there where several members of local fire departments who arrived to help out too.

Police searched the area for several days (KVAL News)

The collective effort eventually led to the tragic discovery of Joshua, deceased on Wednesday 13th at around 12:30 pm.

The Coos County Sheriff's Office said in a statement: "It is with immense sadness that we have to report that missing Joshua McCoy has been found deceased."

Joshua's body was found roughly approximately 1.6 miles from his home and his cause of his death is still being investigated.

The sheriff's office stated that the search for Joshua was thorough and expressed gratitude to all who helped search for him. They said: “The areas that have been searched have been very thorough and methodical due to the circumstances behind the disappearance.

"We have had amazing support from the community in feeding all of these volunteers. Thank you to the departments and agencies assisting Coos County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security, FBI, OSP, NCMEC, Bandon pd, MP pd, Coos Bay PD, Lincoln co. SO, all seven CORSAR counties, Charleston fire, NB fire, coquille fire, Mp fire and ambulance among others.”