Body found in Great Miami River identified as 7-year-old Lucas Rosales
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) — The Montgomery County Coroner and the Schlientz & Moore Funeral Home have confirmed that the body pulled from the Great Miami River on Saturday, May 13, was 7-year-old Lucas Rosales.
The Schlientz & Moore Funeral Home said that Rosales was pronounced dead at 5:55 p.m. on May 13.
The obituary for Lucas Emmanuel Rosales on schlientzandmoore.com says, “The family will receive friends at Woodland Cemetery Mausoleum Chapel for Visitation calling hours from 10am to time of the Funeral Service at 12pm on Monday, May 22nd, 2023. The Rosales Family thanks you in advance for your prayers, kind words and donations.”
The obituary also refers to Rosales as a “a vibrant and cherished little boy. His infectious laughter, bright smile, and loving nature touched the lives of all who knew him.”
His family reported him missing after he disappeared from Eastwood MetroPark on Saturday, April 29. Crews had searched the park, the Mad River and downstream to the Great Miami River since his disappearance.
Lucas and his family were fishing when he went missing. He was wearing a white shirt with black sleeves, black pants, and black Converse shoes. The 7-year-old is 3 feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. The police do not suspect foul play is involved. The search operations were suspended Monday afternoon, but Dayton police and fire crews, Five Rivers MetroParks, and Eqquessearch were scheduled to be back out Tuesday, according to a Dayton Police and Fire Facebook post.
As of Tuesday morning Dayton fire Captain Brad French, said the department did not have any formal searches on the water planned.
However, five personnel may operate in a limited capacity to support other organizations continuing to search for the boy. In the past three days, crews have drained a pond and used thermal imaging devices, underwater and aerial drones, and SONAR devices to search for Lucas.
Search units deployed multiple boats to check the water and riverbanks. The search on Sunday lasted for about three hours before it was suspended due to darkness. The search resumed around 8 am. Sunday before it was temporarily suspended in the evening and then restarted again Monday morning.