Crews have found the body of the 4-year-old boy who disappeared at a campground in Fulton County over the weekend.
Sheriff Buck Foley said Caleb Linn's body was found floating in 2-foot-deep water about a quarter-mile downstream from where two of his shirts were recovered Tuesday. A team of search members in a canoe spotted it.
Randy Muir, the boy's stepfather, said it was heartbreaking to get news his family had been dreading for days. He called Caleb "full of life" and "an amazing young kid" who was eagerly anticipating his birthday and the start of school.
"Every time he looked at us, there was a smile on his face," Randy Muir said, his wife, Amanda, crying beside him.
Searchers in boats, on horseback and driving ATVs had been scouring the remote area for him since Saturday, when he disappeared while helping family members clear storm debris from the 900-acre Kia Kima Scout Reservaton.
Some family members were visibly upset, crying and holding one another in an area where they've been waiting for the past several days during the search.
"You see it now," Caleb's grandfather, Phillip Dawson, said while gesturing to his family. "That's how we're doing. It's been pretty emotional."
Foley's eyes turned glassy while he talked about finding the boy, a search he had maintained was a rescue and not a recovery through to the end.
"It is disheartening to find him," the sheriff said. "We hoped even in a search on the water that we were going to find him on the shore somewhere."
On Tuesday, officials pulled the two shirts from the water about 400 yards downstream from the bridge. A cadaver-sniffing dog had alerted searchers to the area earlier Tuesday.
That prompted police to call off a ground search of the surrounding wilderness, opting instead to focus on the water.
Hundreds of volunteers helped comb the woods earlier in the search and dozens of law enforcement personnel took to canoe and boat Wednesday as the effort continued.
Randy Muir thanked the search teams for "around-the-clock" dedication and praised everyone who offered support.
"Thank you for all your prayers," he said. "I know there's been tens of thousands of people around the world - if not more - praying for us. I can't express enough gratitude."
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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Photo Gallery
Search for Caleb Linn
Volunteers, family, friends and law enforcement search for missing 4-year-old Caleb Linn. Caleb disappeared Saturday at the Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, while cleaning the grounds with his aunt. Volunteers found Caleb's body around 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012.
