“Around 10:13 AM the child was located submerged in an irrigation canal near a debris grate approximately a ¼ of a mile away from the football field and school,” reads the police department press release.

SFPD Lt. Cory Slaymaker said the child was missing for approximately 45 minutes to an hour before police were contacted. A search party of around 15 Spanish Fork Police police officers, 12 fire and EMS workers and 30 to 40 citizens residents searched for around an hour and a half before a police officer found the toddler in the canal.

Slaymaker said the child was not breathing when they were found. First responders rendered aid before the child was pronounced dead.

The child was identified on the department’s Facebook page in a post seeking help with the search as Emit Burrell.

Burrell had gone with his father to football practice that morning. According to Spanish Fork police, his father assists in coaching the ALA football team.

Slaymaker told the Daily Herald that the child, at some point, wandered off through the gate or the football field and they were last seen on camera “exiting the football area to the West on Mill Road.” Across the street from the school are several open fields and the irrigation canal where the body was recovered.

“We’re just working with the family and those involved and it’ll remain an active investigation until we get information back from the medical examiner’s office,” Slaymaker said.

The search party was gathered by members of the football team, contacting their families and friends, and through the police department sending out a Reverse 911 call to community members.