The body found in the stream has disappeared, Maddox Ritch, six years old: the police

The body found partially submerged in a North Carolina Cove has been confirmed missing, Maddox Ritch, 6, the authorities said Monday.

"We are deeply saddened to learn that the body found by investigators last Thursday is confirmed to be Maddox Ritch," said Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton in a statement released on Monday. "Hundreds of people have been searching for this child tirelessly and our work continues to answer any questions we may have about his tragic death."

The results of the autopsy are still pending, said the police, and it is not clear yet how Maddox went from the park to the creek.

Maddox, who suffers from autism and does not speak verbally, was at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, with his father and another adult when he disappeared on Saturday, Sept. 22.

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After days of intensive research, the body was found Thursday about a mile from the park, officials said.

Maddox's father, Ian Ritch, said the boy had sprinted about 25 to 30 feet in front of him before losing his sight.

"As soon as I got to the point where I could not see him anymore, I started to panic," he said last week.

"I would give anything to save him," Ritch wrote on Facebook a few hours after the body's recovery. "For the rest of my life, I will live with the guilt of not being there to save my son.[sic] Children are tighter and please do not make my mistake and let them go too far. "

In his statement, Ritch also thanked those who traveled the park and "all members of the community who were hoping and praying and taking only one second of their time to think of Maddox".

After Maddox disappeared, a park employee called 911, prompting a massive search of local, provincial and federal investigators. They searched the field with police dogs, searched garbage cans, crossed the park lake with sonar and divers, and inspected the area with helicopters and drones, the police said.

The authorities also recorded messages from Maddox's parents and played these messages in the woods in the hope that their voices would persuade him to go out if he was there.

Anyone who was in Rankin Lake Park that day is asked to call the tip line at 704-869-1075.