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A 4-year-old autistic boy who wandered away from his family's home in Cushing, Okla., was found drowned in a duck pond at a nearby park in April 2011, and the state medical examiner later ruled the death an accident, authorities said.

Blake Murrell, who was nonverbal, was last seen between 9:30 and 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 19, at the family's home in the 300 block of South Little, according to the Cushing Police Department. Police said the boy's mother called 911 shortly before 11:30 a.m. to report him missing.

In the call, the person reporting Blake missing was able to give the dispatcher only a limited description of the child, who could not speak. Officers concentrated their search on Memorial Park after witnesses reported seeing the boy in the area, police said.

As the afternoon went on, emergency workers began draining a duck pond in the park to rule out the possibility that Blake had fallen in. His body was recovered about 3:30 p.m. near a bridge as the water level dropped, roughly 150 yards from the home, according to police.

Cushing Police Chief Terry Brannon said investigators were looking into who had been watching the boy and how he came to be at the park by himself. Workers from the state Department of Human Services responded to the scene.

The state medical examiner's office ruled that Blake drowned and classified the manner of death as accidental. Payne County District Attorney Tom Lee declined to file charges the following month, saying the evidence "does not justify the filing of criminal charges" and indicated the death was "an unfortunate, tragic accident."