FLORENCE, Ky. — After a 24-plus-hour search, the body of 9-year-old Jenny Din was found in a pond near her Florence home on Saturday.
When Din was first reported missing at around 5 p.m. Friday, investigators' first step was to issue an IAN Alert as they began their search.
"It is triggered anytime there is a missing juvenile with autism or any sort of severe disability," Lt. Anthony Theetge with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said.
The IAN Alert is named after Ian Sousis, an autistic child whose body was found in the Ohio River after he was reported missing from Covington in 2022.
Jenny’s body was also found in water, as was 6-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef Jr. from West Chester in November 2024.
"It does seem that people, or children with autism, are attracted to bodies of water," Theetge said. "So knowing that, and having the experience of other children not necessarily with our department but in the area, we knew that that was a strong possibility."
WATCH: Law enforcement and autism advocates share the dangers of when children with autism go missing
Theetge added that searching bodies of water can be very challenging, especially when they are deeper, like the one Jenny was found in.
"This particular pond was essentially two-tiered — there were spots where it was as deep as 20 feet, and there were spots as shallow as almost waist deep," Theetge said. "So when you’re searching something that is 20-feet deep, then you have to search several layers in every area."
He said branches, trees and other things that were thrown or fallen into the pond added more challenges to the search.
Leslie Williams, with the EmPath For Autism Foundation, spoke with us about why children with autism are often drawn to water.
"They love the way that it sounds, they love the way that it moves, they love the way that it sparkles and the way that it feels on their body. There is a compression aspect to it," Williams said.
Because of this attraction, Williams said children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown. Studies show that over 90% of autistic children's wandering fatalities are due to accidental drownings.
"I think that we need to start taking a look at this and what kind of dangers are out there for children, and start making changes to make sure that this doesn't happen to another family," Williams said.
EmPath For Autism is currently fighting to get fencing around public bodies of water in hopes of preventing this from ever happening again.
Williams also encouraged all parents with autistic children to put them into adaptive swim lessons. She said there are several options available in the Cincinnati area, including through the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.
