Officers with the New York Police Department have launched a desperate search for a 5 year-old boy who fell into the Harlem River.

Sources told the New York Post that the child was with his parents, and he was last seen at around 2:50pm climbing a tree near the water at Harlem River Field 7.

“Everybody was just playing around and I guess they went to the side of the water and something must of happened,” said Luis Ramos, who was nearby coaching kids playing soccer when the child fell into the river.

“The parents jumped in, that’s why they’re wet. They jumped in to look for him. A couple of other parents jumped in too. The thing is it’s so dark you can’t see anything in the water,” Ramos continued.  “I heard the parents going: ‘Over there! Over there!’

“I saw a little arm out of the water, that was it. The last thing I saw was an arm sticking out,” he added.

Harbor and Emergence Service Unit aviation are taking part in the rescue effort in the hopes of finding the boy.

Divers doing a grid search where the Bronx Kill and Harlem River meet off Randall’s Island, looking for a 5 yr old boy who fell in about 2:30pm @ABC7NYNewsDesk @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/ULuuwqDzDc

— Naveen Dhaliwal (@naveencbs2ny) September 19, 2020

Please join us in saying a prayer for this little boy in the hopes that he will be found safe and sound.

This sadly comes months after “Glee” actress Naya Rivera drowned in Lake Piru in California. She had been out boating with her 4 year-old son, who was found sleeping on the vessel alone hours later with his mother nowhere to be found. It took five days for divers to finally find the 33 year-old actress’ body.

Fox News reported that her 4 year-old son Josey said that prior to her drowning, he and his mother “counted ‘1, 2, 3’ and then jumped off the boat together.”

A short time after that, Rivera told her son “to get back on to the boat.”

“She helped him onto the boat and he then heard [Rivera] yell ‘help’ and she put her arm in the air. She then disappeared into the water,” the report stated. It added that Rivera “was considered to be a good swimmer,” and according to a lake attendant who rented her the boat, Rivera had declined a life vest, but he included one for her anyway.

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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