From staff reports
A toddler who was reported missing in Port Royal Wednesday night, Aug. 31, was found dead, the apparent victim of an accidental drowning.
Mason Henley, 3, was reported missing around 7:25 p.m. According to the Port Royal Police Department, he had wandered off from his home on Cedar Creek Circle in the Shadow Moss community about 40 minutes earlier.
A dive team discovered the boy’s body about 20 feet from the shoreline of a pond located behind his residence. A neighbor’s doorbell camera captured video images of Henley chasing ducks in the area.
The coroner has not yet released the official cause of death, but police suspect it to have been an accidental drowning.
Officers from the Port Royal Police Department were joined in the search by personnel from the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department and deputies from Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) as well as the BCSO dive team, helicopter and K-9 team.
