Crews have recovered the body of a missing 3-year-old autistic boy - Evan Wesley Reed - near the Villages Marina on Lake Palestine.

Emergency responders from multiple states helped in the two day search for evan.
There were crews from all over East Texas and even here in Shreveport, helping to search for the last two days, all now devastated to hear that little Evan's body was found in the lake at about two this after noon.

"It's heartbreaking. It's devastating."

When Jessica Loghry heard a 4-year-old autistic boy was missing near Lake Palestine, the first thing she thought of was her own son.

"My son has a mild form of autism and it's too close to home. He's 4 years old and then they said the name, the first name is the same."

When she found out it was a different Evan who was missing -- she immediately went to help search.

3-year-old Evan Reed went missing around 5:30 p.m. Friday evening.

"He was at home, 3 years old, We're not sure how the back door got open, a sliding door. Mom noticed the sliding door was open approximately a 6 to 10 minute window and the child has a tendency to run in the backyard and likes to go down towards the water."

Within 30 minutes, help poured in from all over.

"We got dive teams from two different states here. I had TDC dogs, bloodhounds, cadaver dogs, DPS, Noonday, sheriff's office, everyone's here to help. We have a lot of volunteers."

Loghry says her autistic son has similar behavioral patterns as Reed and explains how easily they can slip away.

"It's not shocking because it's very difficult to baby proof for a lot of autistic kids they're obsessive about things that are mechanical. My son, I know I've had doorknob covers and he's taken them apart."

The Smith County game warden says Evan had been in the water before but had never swam without a life jacket on.

After his body was found, Smith County Sheriff's deputies stayed at the family's home to continue investigating.