UPDATE2: Preliminary autopsy results show that two-year-old Isaiah died from hyper-thermia — a large spike in his body heat — after he was found dead in a car trunk on Wednesday night.
UPDATE: Polk County Sheriff confirms the body of two-year-old Isaiah Theis was found in the trunk of a locked vehicle near his home last night.
READ: Polk Co. Sheriff press release (PDF)
The Polk County Sheriff’s office says the body of a missing two-year-old boy has been recovered, bringing a tragic end to a search that started Tuesday night.
In a brief statement released late Wednesday night, the Sheriff’s Office said the body of Isaiah Theis was located deceased by a law enforcement officer at around 10 p.m.
No further information is being released at this time.
Dozens of volunteers, along with a helicopter from the Minnesota State Patrol, had been searching for the boy since Tuesday evening. It is believed Theis wandered away from his family’s farmhouse in Centuria, Wisconsin just hours before his disappearance was reported to police. Search parties had been checking wooded areas and farm fields near the home.
WXCE’s Kurt Mayer contributed to this report.