INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The bodies of a man and three young children were found in an Indianapolis pond along with a submerged car amid a search for a father and his kids who went missing last week after leaving for a planned fishing trip there, authorities said Wednesday.
The bodies hadn’t been positively identified, but police said they were found along with the vehicle matching the description of a car driven by Kyle Moorman, 27, of Indianapolis.
“Based upon information available to detectives and evidence collected at the scene, there is a commonality with the Moorman family missing persons investigation,” police said in a statement. “Detectives are working to piece together what led up to this incident.”
Moorman was missing since July 6, when he left to go to his brother’s house with plans to go fishing at the pond with his children: 1-year-old Kyran Holland, 2-year-old Kyannah Holland and 5-year-old Kyle Moorman II.
Officers were dispatched Tuesday night to the pond following a report of a dead person in the water and police said the man was pronounced dead at the scene. A dive team found a vehicle in the water, and the bodies of three children were inside, police said.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office was expected to later release the names of the dead, police said, and determine cause and manner of death.
Family and friends of the Moormans had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to their whereabouts. They had searched the pond and the surrounding area for days and a private helicopter and volunteers with a personal boat also searched the pond and surrounding areas Tuesday afternoon, The Indianapolis Star reported.
Moorman’s sister, Mariah Moorman, said Monday her brother’s phone last pinged near the pond about 12:40 a.m. on July 7, a few hours after the last time he was seen. She said her brother often goes night fishing and was expected to go to the pond.
“As far as we know, he was coming out here to go fishing,” she told The Indianapolis Star on Monday. “That’s what he told my sister. It’s not odd. He does it all the time. They go night fishing a lot.”
The disappearance was first shared by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday. Earlier this week, police said officers searched the area and other locations on foot and using drones.
But William Muse, a relative of Kyle Moorman’s mother, said Tuesday he and other family members were frustrated investigators didn’t search the pond sooner after the man and his children were reported missing.
“They should have at least tried,” Muse said.
