Timeline: Search for missing special needs boy ends in tragedy

SINGAPORE – Muhammad Hairil Effendi, an 11-year-old boy with special needs, went missing on Aug 29.

He was later

found dead at sea

off East Coast Park on the night of Aug 30.

Here is a timeline of what happened:

Hairil is last seen in Marine Terrace in the vicinity of Block 29 Marine Crescent at around 11.05am on Aug 29.

The boy’s mother says their neighbour’s CCTV footage recorded him leaving their home.

Facebook groups put out appeals for Hairil’s location and share missing posters of him. One post had garnered over 6,100 shares just past midnight on Aug 31, and has been widely reposted on other Facebook groups.

The police

issue an appeal for information

on Hairil’s whereabouts.

The police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) are alerted to an incident at East Coast Park.

According to eyewitness Athavan A., police and SCDF officers arrive at about 10.15pm, and a section of the park is cordoned off.

Officers from the SCDF’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) are seen unloading equipment and preparing for their dive.

Officers from the Dart team pull the body of a boy from the sea.

A body is seen being loaded onto a stretcher and placed in a police van.

The police say Hairil’s next-of-kin had identified the body as him. 

SingaporeMissing peopleChildren and youth