SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - The parents of a 3-year-old boy who was reported missing are sharing their heartbreak after the toddler was found floating in a canal near a Southwest Miami-Dade neighborhood.
Laeticia Elyze and Jean Willy Petit Frere spoke with 7News on Saturday afternoon, hours after police located their son Kayden unresponsive in the water.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to react right now,” said Petit Frere.
Petit Frere showed a 7News crew the canal where Kayden’s body was found, just feet from their home.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the child’s home, in the area of Southwest 212th Street and 119th Avenue, after Elyze reported him missing, early Saturday morning.
“And I started searching for him. I came out here, and after that, I went back inside to get my sister-in-law to look with me,” said Elyze, “and after that we called the police.”
When asked whether the front door was open, Elyze replied, “Cracked open.”
First responders later located the boy unresponsive in the canal across the home and began performing CPR.
Paramedics rushed Kayden to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The child’s parents described him as quiet and happy.
“Kayden is just a cool kid, like funny, too, but he’s very lovable,” said Elyze.
The grieving parents said they are now doing their best to keep it together while coming to terms with their loss.
“If the gate was open, I don’t know what to say about this,” said Petit Frere. “I don’t know what to do right now. It’s like I’m not trying to go crazy, say something I’m not supposed to say or do something that I’m not supposed to do, but it’s like, that really hurts.”
Saturday evening, 7News cameras showed yellow flowers and a stuffed animal that loved ones left near the canal where Kayden was found.
Police continue to investigate how the boy ended up in the canal.
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