PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A New Port Richey community is reeling the loss of a six-year-old boy who was found dead Friday morning after he was reported missing Thursday night.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department, Cory Chester, 6, of Pasco County was last seen Thursday, July 10 around 8:45 p.m.

At 1:08 a.m. Friday, July 11, authorities said Chester had been located. Chester was reported deceased around 10 a.m. later that morning.

News Channel 8 spoke with the child’s parents, who said he was found in the pond of the gated community near their home.

Chester’s mother, Jessica Chester, said one of their other children was taking out the trash Thursday evening and left the garage door open for a few minutes as the trash bins were a distance from the home.

Jessica Chester said Chester then wandered off, but she had been cleaning at the time.

She stopped the blower and realized she did not hear Chester and began looking both in and outside of the house and could not find him.

Chester’s mother then called her husband and authorities as she realized Chester was now missing.

When authorities arrived Jessica Chester said deputies reviewed security footage where Chester went out at around 8:11 p.m. and noticed him missing at 8:17.

Katie Lester, a neighbor who lived in the Crescent Forrest gated community located a few feet down the street from the Chesters, noticed someone.

“I was out with my dogs, and I caught a flash of a purple shirt, just maybe the mid-section,” Lester said. “I turned to look at my dog and turned back, and they were gone.”

Lester said she could not make out who it was that she saw until she went and took her dogs out once more later that evening.

“I see the cops, so I flagged them down and said, ‘who are you–who are you looking for?’ And, originally, they said it was a green shirt. And I said, ‘Okay, well, I saw somebody with a purple shirt that I didn’t see a face or anything,’ but then it did come out later that he was in a purple shirt,” Lester recalled.

Jessica Chester said her 6-year-old son is autistic and was possibly attracted to the colors of the fountain near the pond.

“I can’t even imagine how awful that must be for them; that’s just so terrible,” said Keith Zimmerman, an ophthalmologist of the New Port Richey VA Clinic who takes a walk in the neighborhood during his breaks.

According to Pasco County sheriff officials, no additional information will be provided at this time and the investigation remains ongoing.