Avi Gurung

According to KPVI.com,

OMAHA — The body of missing 7-year-old Avi Gurung was retrieved from the Missouri River on Thursday evening, August 5, 2021, downstream of the spot where he disappeared.

The boy’s body was found under the Interstate 680 bridge, according to Officer Phillip Anson, spokesman for the Omaha Police Department. A fisherman saw something that looked like it belonged to a child. He contacted a Douglas County search team that had been wrapping up its search. The search team found the boy’s body.

Avi was last seen about 6p Tuesday, August 3, 2021, on a sandbar upstream of the N.P. Dodge Park marina.

He had been with several family members on the sandbar in a small cove north of the main part of the park. The cove was accessible via a trail through the woods.

Family members took their eyes off him briefly to assist another child, and when they turned back, Avi was gone, according to police.

While the investigation continues, no foul play is suspected.

Bhim Gurung, an uncle, said Thursday that the news is devastating but brings some closure.

“We are very glad they found the body,” he said. “Not everyone is so fortunate.”

Gurung said the family has seen successive tragedies. Avi’s older brother died at the same age of kidney disease. His grandmother died in June. And one of the boy’s uncles spent more than a month in the hospital with COVID-19.

Because the boy hadn’t been seen entering the water, emergency workers searched the 44.5-acre park and the river Tuesday night through Thursday.

Multiple agencies, including the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Omaha Fire Department, assisted with search efforts. The Omaha Police Department’s mounted patrol, a police helicopter, K-9 units, a dive team and airboats were used as well.