Grieving mother of missing nonverbal child found dead receives death threats
Body of missing nonverbal boy found in pond
Parents of Indi Bullock, a missing 5-year-old nonverbal boy found dead in a pond, are breaking their silence. They say they've received death threats since the news broke. Meanwhile, an autopsy to determine little Indi's cause of death is still pending.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Just a day after a five-year-old boy was reported missing, authorities pulled his body from a retention pond not far from the apartment where his family lives in Lawrenceville.
Since then, his mother says she’s been the target of death threats and harassing phone calls from people saying she’s to blame.
What we know:
A multi-agency search for five-year-old Indi Bullock came to a heartbreaking end on Friday.
Gwinnett County police say divers team members from the Hall County Sheriff’s Department discovered the child’s body in a retention pond just a few hundred yards from an apartment on Sweetwater Road in Lawrenceville.
Investigators say the boy appeared to have drowned. The medical examiner’s preliminary findings indicated no foul play was suspected. The results of an autopsy on the five-year-old are pending.
RAW: Body of missing boy found press conference
Officials announced around 12:20 p.m. Friday that they believe the body of missing nonverbal 5-year-old Indi Bullock was found in a retention pond near his apartment home.
What they're saying:
Chakia Carter and Isaiah Bullock say the pain they feel from losing their son, Indi, is hard to put into words.
Carter told FOX 5 that grieving has been made even more difficult as she’s been receiving death threats and harassing messages related to his death.
"People have been calling my phone ridiculously and sending messages through Facebook, basically saying it was my fault because I was the one at home," Carter explained.
"Everything I do is in the name of my children. I would never harm them. I would never do anything to purposely hurt them," she added.
Carter said Indi was a sweet child who loved music, food and showing his affection for the people he cared about.
Right now, their focus is trying to be there for their other son, Indi’s twin brother, who is also on the spectrum.
What we don't know:
It’s still unclear exactly how Indi got to the retention pond. The medical examiner's office will release an official manner of death in the coming days.
What you can do:
There’s no word on funeral arrangements, but the family has started an online fundraiser to help cover expenses.
The Source: Information reported in this story came from Gwinnett County police and previous Fox 5 Atlanta reporting (see linked).