Emotional moment hero officers reunite autistic boy with his father after he wandered into freezing pond
Video footage revealed the emotional and gripping moments when officers rescued a little boy with autism from a freezing pond on Christmas night.
Published: 05:38 GMT, 28 December 2025 | Updated: 08:38 GMT, 28 December 2025
Incredible video footage captured the moment a police officer rescued a missing six-year-old boy from a freezing pond and reunited him with his father in a heartwarming scene.
The boy, identified only as 'Coco,' was rescued by deputies in Florida on Christmas night after his panicked parents reported him missing.
The Volusia Sheriff's Office shared footage of the gripping search for Coco, who has autism and is nonverbal.
He was initially located by Air One, a helicopter used by authorities for aerial searches, which spotted the child standing in freezing waist-deep water.
The pilot of the helicopter could be heard on the footage urging officers to race to save the boy from the ice-cold water, telling them over the radio: 'Just head straight North, you'll run right into him.'
Officers scoured the terrain to locate the missing child, and found him shivering in the pond.
'Don't yell - I think that makes him nervous,' one officer was heard saying as he calmly approached the confused child.
'If somebody hasn't called rescue - we're going to need them. This water's really cold, and he's shaking,' the officer added.
Incredible video footage captured the moment a police officer rescued a missing boy from a freezing pond and reunited him with his father in an emotional scene
Officers rescued a six-year-old boy named Coco from a freezing pond on Christmas night and safely returned him to his emotional father
Coco's father tearfully ran to his son when he saw that officers had rescued the little boy. Coco is nonverbal and has autism
The cop could be seen in the footage calmly introducing himself to Coco, scooping him up, and telling the little boy that they were going to get him a blanket.
The boy was then reunited with his father in emotional scenes, and the pair ran to each other in tears and embraced.
The sheriff's department said that Coco is known to be attracted to water and started taking swimming lessons after he was involved in a similar incident in August 2024.
Video footage from that previous rescue captured the moments when officers first spotted Coco in a pond.