PLAINFIELD, Ind. — The Hendricks County coroner positively identified the body found Friday evening in a body of water in a neighborhood as 4-year-old Fiedwenya Fiefe.
Crews located the body of a child that matched the description of Fiefe in a body of water in the Legacy Farms neighborhood Friday evening.
Fiefe, who was known as NeeGee, was reported missing from the neighborhood around 2 p.m. Thursday.
"We ask that the public please keep Fiedwenya Fiefe‘s family in their thoughts and prayers and respect their privacy at this time," Plainfield police wrote on Facebook Friday evening.
A Silver Alert had been issued for Fiefe shortly after police and firefighters reported they were searching for the girl on Thursday. Police said surveillance video showed the girl leaving a house and walking west.
Her family told police Fiefe, who has autism and is nonverbal, frequently tries to leave her house.
“From what I gathered this is a misunderstanding between mother and grandmother on who was watching her at the time and this has happened a couple of times before,” said Plainfield Police Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge.
Alongside Plainfield Fire Territory crews, police deployed drones, watercraft, off-road vehicles and police dogs Thursday night in their search efforts. The search was scaled back when it got too dark but resumed Friday at 7 a.m.
Aldridge said more than 100 officers and firefighters are looking in Legacy Farms, Sugar Creek and Forest Park neighborhoods Friday, along with more than a dozen ponds in the area.
“I will tell you those waters are really, really murky and they are really dark. It is very difficult for divers to find anything in those ponds, so we still not ruling any of those possibilities out,” Aldridge said.
A call for volunteers to help in the search brought out more than 300 people. So many people responded, the police department had to put out another message around 2:20 p.m. Friday asking that no more people come out at that time.
“All the people in this community care. You can tell by all the outpouring of support on social media, that people want to come out and help,” Aldridge said.
An expanded search was planned for Friday evening. The Silver Alert was canceled Friday night.
(Editor's note: This story has been edited to correct the spelling of Fiedwenya Fiefe's name from an earlier report based on information from firefighters.)
Amber Alert vs. Silver Alert: What's the difference?
There are specific standards a person's disappearance must meet in order for police to declare an Amber Alert or a Silver Alert.
Amber Alerts are for children under the age of 18 who are believed to have been abducted and in danger. Police also need to have information about a suspect and their car to issue an Amber Alert.
Silver Alerts are for missing and endangered adults or children. They are much more common for missing people. It was not until last year when the standards for Silver Alerts were expanded to include children.
In both situations, these alerts must be issued by police.