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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam Buckler

Body of Jayden Robker, 13, found in pond near home after he went missing for five weeks

The body of a 13-year-old boy has been found in a pond near his home five weeks after he vanished.

Jayden Robker, from Kansas, US, had been skateboarding and trading Pokemon cards near Lakeview Terrace Mobile Home Park on February 2.

The schoolboy had disembarked his school bus at 2.30pm and was last spotted on CCTV at a local grocery store at around 3.30pm, which is a mile from his home and where he was later discovered.

Mum Heather Robke had woken up for her night shift at 10.40pm to discover her son hadn't returned home.

She then reported him missing to the Kansas City Police Department who began searching for the 13-year-old that evening.

The Police Department of Gladstone and Kansas City, Missouri confirmed a body which been located on Friday in a nearby pond, was Jayden.

Jayden had been missing since February 2 (FBI)

Heather said she is struggling to come to terms with Jayden's death.

She told KCTV5 on Sunday: "I’m heartbroken. It’s very hard to take in this information. I’m still in shock and I’ve cried all day. It’s a lot to take in at one time.

"I just know that they tell me based on what they’ve done on the autopsy that there was no foul play."

Heather described her son as having a big heart.

She added: "Jay was a very loving and kind kid. He cared for anybody. He trusted everybody. He was very respectful.

"I do know that his siblings are sad. I’ve talked to them, but it’s hard to explain to a small child what this means.”

According to The Kansas City Star, police waited four days to inform the public Jayden was missing after they struggled to obtain a recent photograph of him.

Police made the heartbreaking discovery (Dale Messing/KSHB)

Derrica Wilson, co-founder of the Black & Missing Foundation, believes cops should have released a missing persons statement on the night he vanished and updated it later with a recent picture.

She told The Star: “There’s no such thing as small information. Everything is critical ... I think it could’ve made a huge difference, because someone may have seen this young man.”

However, Christopher Boyer, executive director of the National Association For Search And Rescue, said a recent photograph is imperative when searching for a missing person.

He said: “Typical policy for most police departments is ‘if we don’t have a picture, then we’re probably not going to go sending out that missing person flier."

Police confirmed an early autopsy has showed no “obvious signs of foul play”.

Investigations into Jayden's death are continuing, according to authorities.

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