Body found in a creek in Australia might be of the missing boy Yadav

Melbourne, Aug 21 : A dead body found in the Gardiner's Creek in Kooyong is feared to be of missing schoolboy of Indian origin Yadav Munohur. The body floating on the water surface was detected by a construction worker.

Yadav Munohur's parents Kailash and Aarti Munohur are expected to soon arrive at the creek running under the Monash Freeway to confirm the identity of the child's body.

The body was pulled from Gardiner's Creek in Kooyong just before 11am, about 70m downstream from where thongs belonging to nine-year-old Yadav were found on Sunday, reported the Herald Sun.

Police have confirmed the body is that of a child, but have yet to confirm whether it is that of the nine-year-old boy missing since August 7, added the police.

The child's body was found at 8.10 am this morning by Citylink construction workers, who called police. It was placed on a stretcher and into a van for removal at about 11.40 a.m.

According to the construction workers at the site, they had just started the day's work when they made the discovery. They had no doubts about the identity of the boy.

The boy's body was found next to a freeway pillar, 500m up from Kooyong Park near the intersection of the creek with the Yarra River.

Sergeant Graham Rodgers of Victoria Police said that it was likely the body would be identified later today. "At this stage, we're waiting for formal identification procedures to take place before we take the matter any further," he told reporters at the scene.

Sgt Rodgers confirmed searchers had walked through the creek at the spot where the body was discovered during the initial search for the missing boy. "It may have been snagged, it may have been under water for a period of time and with the recent rain has just been brought to the surface. It's probable he's washed down from further up," he said.

Yadav has been missing since August 7, when he disappeared after pleading with his mother to be allowed to play at a nearby reserve late in the afternoon. When she asked him to wait for her, Yadav ran from the family's Glenferrie Rd flat and has not been seen since.

Yadav was last seen wearing a blue school top with green sleeves, blue tracksuit pants, a blue and white chequered shirt and sneakers. Heavy rain caused Gardiners Creek to peak above 2 meter the night he vanished.

Yadav was born in India and grew up in a Mumbai orphanage before being adopted by the Munohurs, who migrated from Mauritius four months ago.

ANI