An 7 year-old child who went missing from a city-run summer program on Tuesday afternoon near the L Street bathhouse was found dead in the nearby waters of Dorchester Bay that evening. The boy’s disappearance had sparked a frantic search by police on water, land and from the air that lasted for several hours until his body was recovered in the water about 15 yards from the landmark bathhouse.

"The City of Boston is devastated to learn of the tragic loss of Kyzr Willis, and I will be working closely with Boston Centers for Youth and Families and the Boston Police Department until we know exactly what happened,” said Mayor Martin Walsh. My heart is broken for the Willis family and my thoughts and prayers will be with them."

How Willis wandered off the beach and into the water without supervision is still unknown. The director of the BCYF Curley Community Center, where the city program was based, has been placed on administrative leave.

A memorial fund has been established to help raise funds for the Willis family’s funeral expenses and future college expenses for his parents and his surviving brother, Ralph Jr.