Global Courant 2023-05-31 23:23:36
The body of a 16-year-old Georgia boy was found Tuesday after the teen was reported missing a day earlier from a church camp he attended on Jekyll Island.
Connor Mathis was found in the water on the south side of the island after a nearly 20-hour search involving hundreds of volunteers and multiple law enforcement agencies, Brunswick News reported.
Connor had been to a church camp on the island, officials said, and was reported missing after failing to show up at 6 p.m. Monday as campers regrouped from afternoon activities.
Volunteers showed up to help the Georgia State Patrol and other local, state and federal agencies search for the teen.
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Connor Mathis, 16, was found dead on Jekyll Island in Georgia on Tuesday, a day after the teen went missing, officials said. (Glynn County Sheriff’s Office)
It was not immediately known how the teenager died.
The teen’s body was found in the water on a beach on the southern end of Jekyll Island, according to a local report. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
Officials said Connor had high-functioning autism. Some searchers told the newspaper that Connor’s autism was the reason they joined the search.
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Jekyll Island is one of the Golden Isles of Georgia’s barrier islands. Connor was attending a church camp on the island when he went missing on Monday. (David Underwood/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
“I have a cousin who has autism,” Erica Johnson, who gave up part of her vacation to help search, told the paper. “I hope someone will do it for him.”
Connor was a rising 11th grade student at Glynn Academy. The school said it will have counselors available to talk to in the coming days.
Jekyll Island is located in Glynn County off the coast of Georgia within the Golden Isles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
