Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of 5 year old Isaac Schroeder of Fort Jennings. On Wednesday, May 27 shortly after 3pm, the Putnam County Sheriff’s office received a call of a missing child who had wandered away from home. As the hours passed, many emergency units, agencies and volunteers assisted with the search including the Continental Volunteer Fire Department.
The search was suspended due to darkness and volunteers were asked to report at 7am on Thursday morning to resume the search for the autistic child. Mike Jones said this about the volunteer efforts: “why do i live in Putnam county.. when one person needs help literally whole communities show up.. Overwhelmed by the response in the search for Issac.. parking lot (a big lot full).. people parking along the road across the bridge.. then met two search groups.. not afraid to get dirty and make sure nothing is missed. at those two points at least 25 cars.. would hazard to guess the number of volunteer firemen representing a number of towns were there along with the equipment needed… Good luck and God speed on their quest.”
Throughout the day, Captain Brad Brubaker of the Putnam County Sheriff’s office kept the volunteers updated with press conferences. It was reported that nearly 900 volunteers came to search the surrounding areas and the Auglaize River which is near the Schroeder residence. Shortly after 5pm, Captain Brubaker reported that they were able to rescue the body of Isaac Schroeder from the Auglaize River approximately 3/4 of a mile from his home.
