Police Identify the Body of Missing Azriel Carver
March 19, 2010 — -- The body of an 8-year-old boy who disappeared Saturday night near Olympia, Wash., has washed up on a remote beach, officials said Thursday.
Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said the body had been identified as 8-year-old Azriel Carver, who went missing with his mother, Shantina Smiley, according to ABC News affiliate KOMO News in Seattle, Wash.
Troyer said the Pierce County medical examiner needs to determine the cause of death.
The search for Smiley and Carver had taken an ominous turn when an area resident found debris along the edge of the pond where Smiley's partially submerged van was found Sunday.
Deputies are still out searching the beach in both directions for any sign of Smiley, 29. A Coast Guard craft and Pierce County sheriff's boats are out searching the waters around the island.
The fiance of the missing mother, who vanished five days ago with her young son, had identified articles that washed ashore Tuesday at a pond as belonging to them.
Thurston County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Mealy told ABC News that Robb Simmons, Smiley's fiance, told investigators that Smiley's son had asthma and used an inhaler. Simmons also identified the smaller of the two shoes and the orange ball as belonging to Azriel, Mealy said.
In addition, the lieutenant said that at about 8 p.m. Saturday night, when Smiley disappeared, she stopped at a store and bought a bottle of wine. Earlier this week, Simmons told "Good Morning America" that Smiley was a recovering alcoholic who'd had a relapse last week.
He said investigators have also focused their efforts on vetting tips and other relevant leads.
Among the leads to emerge was the report from Charles Grimmer, who lives a half a mile from the beach where Smiley's van was found in the water. Grimmer reported that someone had knocked loudly and repeatedly on the garage door about 1 a.m. Sunday, Mealy told ABC News.
Grimmer said he activated the home's alarm system, then went to the front door and looked outside, but he could see no one. After his wife called the sheriff's office, investigators came to the home with bloodhounds. Mealy confirmed that a search dog failed to pick up a scent at the home.
