Body of 2½-year-old girl with autism recovered from pond in Edina park after being reported missing day earlier

Following a search spanning more than 18 hours, authorities on Tuesday afternoon recovered the body of a 2 ½-year-old girl with autism who went missing from an Edina park on Monday.

More than 150 fire and law enforcement personnel from Edina and neighboring suburbs were looking in and around Rosland Park in hopes of finding Iklas Abdullahi Ahmed after a search was conducted through the night, said Edina Fire Chief Andrew Slama.

Searchers recovered the girl's body in a pond near the park's aquatic center, said Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson, who was at the scene.

"On behalf of the city, I want to send our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family and the loved ones of this young girl," Edina Police Chief Todd Milburn said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "Our hearts go out to all those affected by this devastating tragedy."

Late Tuesday morning, Milburn said Iklas was nonverbal because of her autism.

"Our concern last night was that she may have been attracted to [areas] of water," Milburn said during a news conference in the park's parking lot off Valley View Road near W. 66th Street.

Milburn said the father came to the park with Iklas and other children in the family. The father said that Iklas wandered away about 5 p.m. Monday while he was taking one of the other children to the bathroom. The father and others at the park searched on their own for a time and then notified authorities soon afterward, the chief said.

While Milburn raised no concerns about an abduction, he added, "We always have an eye toward any possibility as we go through this."