Missing autistic boy found dead in canal

The revelry of the new year ended in cold reality Saturday, as the Lehigh Valley mourned the loss of a little boy whose body was found in the Lehigh Canal.

When 5-year-old Jayliel Vega Batista wandered about a quarter mile from a family New Year's Eve party in east Allentown and into the canal's frigid water, a community's hope turned to grief.

"It's a sad day for the city," Mayor Ed Pawlowski said at a news conference, where authorities confirmed Jayliel's death.

For two days and two cold nights, police, rescue crews, bloodhounds, and ordinary citizens searched the streets and alleys, woods and river trails of east Allentown for Jayliel, who had autism. He was seen on a private surveillance camera around 11:02 p.m. Thursday, running barefoot and coatless into the woods at the edge of South Aubrey Street.

"He's so strong," his worried mother, Yelitza Batista, had said, clinging to hope Saturday morning. She has four other children.

"I'm broken and empty. This is like a nightmare that I can't wake up from. I know he's crying for me, wondering what's going on."

Allentown Police Chief Keith Morris said Jayliel was found in 39-degree water about 6 feet deep.

Morris and Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim could not say how long the boy had been dead before he was found. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Calling the death a "tragic accident," Morris said police did not suspect foul play but would conduct a full investigation.

"I loved my son," said Gilberto Vega, the boy's father, shortly after being told of his death. "He had no fear. He didn't understand the dangers."

Around 1 p.m. Saturday, Thurman Clark, 25, of Northampton, fished a red-and-white electronic tablet from the water at Canal Park. Police and family members had said Jayliel was playing with a child's tablet that was white with a red cover when he wandered off about 11 p.m. Thursday.

Divers with the city's fire department began scouring the canal. Morris said they found the child's body after about an hour.

Many gathered at a candlelight vigil in Trout Creek Park in south Allentown on Saturday night, allowing the tears to flow for a boy most did not know.

Police and family members had hoped the child came upon a warm spot, hidden from view. With that in mind, police had alerted area residents to the disappearance.

Batista, who lives in south Allentown with husband Vega, said the family was at a party at her aunt's home on New Year's Eve and Jayliel was playing in an upstairs bedroom. She described the dark-haired boy as a ball of energy, with a wide smile and a fascination for hiding and climbing. She said he was afraid of most people, but that rarely stopped him from running circles around them.

"He doesn't speak, but he smiles a lot," Batista said. ". . . We watch him so close. I don't know how he got past us."

Officials went door-to-door through the neighborhood Friday and Saturday.

Brothers Curt and Craig Jones joined a search party late Friday and were still searching Saturday morning.

"As a father, it's hard to think of him out here," said Craig Jones, who has three children. "I figure they need as many people as possible to help."