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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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A nearly two-day search for a Colorado toddler with special needs ended tragically when he was found dead on Sunday.
Three-year-old Amari Galan was found in an irrigation canal that runs behind his home, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.
Galan was last seen alive at around 4 a.m. on Saturday near the 900 block of Washington Street in Rocky Ford. He wandered out of his residence wearing only a diaper.
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The Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued an Endangered Missing Alert for the child later that day.
The Rocky Ford Police Department said in a Facebook post that the child is autistic.
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Multiple agencies participated in a search for the child. Investigators focused on the Catlin Canal which is fed by the Arkansas River.
Rocky Ford police said first responders used K-9s and drones to aid in the search.
Search and Rescue team members searching the banks of the canal urged community members to "stay off the ditch banks" so first responders could look for the missing child. They found his body several miles downstream around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Otero County Coroner Robert Fowler verified Galan's identity and notified his family.
"Law enforcement wishes to share its condolences with the family of Amari Galan," the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in the release.
Members of the community shared heartbroken reactions to the child's death on the police department's Facebook page.
"No words can take away your sorrow, but know you have a community of love surrounding you," one user wrote.
Newsweek reached out to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Rocky Ford Police Department for more information.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's Missing Persons Unit manages Colorado's missing person alert program. It assists law enforcement and other organizations in finding missing children and adults. A list of missing persons in the state is available on the unit's website.
Rocky Ford is a town located about two and a half hours away from Denver with a population of 3,876. The town is known for its agriculture and prime growing conditions, especially for watermelon and cantaloupe. It is known as the "Sweet Melon Capital."
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