The boy found dead in a man-made pond on his uncle’s property in St. Albans Sunday has been identified as 4-year-old Maxwell Brawn.

The cause of death has been ruled as accidental drowning by the state medical examiner’s office, according to Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service.

The boy’s body was found in seven feet of water in the pond shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, MacDonald said. The pond is 15 feet deep at its deepest, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said. It’s about 100 yards from the boy’s home on Ballard Road, on property owned by the boy’s uncle.

The boy was reported missing around 4:30 p.m. The initial call went to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and the department requested assistance from the Maine Warden Service, the release said.

“A ground search was initiated in the immediate area of the boy’s residence,” MacDonald said in the release. He said Maine State Police used a dog tracking team, while other searchers looked in woods surrounding the house.

MacDonald said that “clues led to a farm pond next door on property owned by the boy’s uncle.”

He said the Warden Service dive team found the body at 6:50 p.m. in about seven feet of water.

The Warden Service was assisted by the Maine State Police, Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, Dexter Fire, St. Albans Fire, Hartland Fire and Sebasticook Valley Ambulance.

No charges are expected in the case.


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