BROOKINGS – Brookings firefighters recovered the body of a missing boy in a pond along 12th Street South Friday morning following a suspected accidental drowning.

Brookings Fire Department Chief Darrell Hartmann said the victim was found about 8:40 a.m. Friday.

“(Thursday), the Brookings Police Department had a report of a missing 10-year-old male. They were searching the area and found a bike and some sandals next to a pond,” Hartmann said.

The BFD’s dive team was called out about midnight to search the pond, located on 12th Street South between Southland Lane and 22nd Avenue South. Hartmann said a rubber liner in the pond made the search hazardous, so the search was postponed at 3 a.m. Friday. Searching resumed at 7 a.m. Friday.

Searchers used pumps from Brookings Municipal Utilities and Brookings County to remove about 300,000 gallons of water from the pond, and then the BFD team went into the pond to conduct a grid-based walking search for the boy, who was later recovered, Hartmann said.

The victim’s name has not been released.

Brookings Ambulance and the Brookings Street Department also assisted at the scene. Firefighters were working until about 11 a.m. Friday.

Hartmann praised all the first responders’ work and professionalism and said police remained on the scene overnight to protect the area.