Child welfare check leads NMSP to find body in Rio Grande

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico — A welfare check on a 5-year-old boy led New Mexico State Police to a body in the Rio Grande this weekend, ABC affiliate KOAT reported Sunday night.

According to officials with New Mexico State Police, officers responded to a welfare check on 5-year-old Shaquille Ferguson Jr. in Truth or Consequences.

Officers said the person that requested the welfare check said they saw the boy with another family member more than two weeks ago near the Rio Grande at Rotary Park in T or C.

The investigation led officers with the NMSP dive team to the Rio Grande where they found a body about six miles from Rotary Park, officials said.

At this time, the body has not been identified. NMSP has not said if the body was that of an adult or a child.

The body has been sent to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque for positive identification and a determination on the cause of death.