The search is continuing in Jean Lafitte National Park for 4-year-old Ellis Boudean, who has been missing since Thursday.
A Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesperson confirmed to WWL Monday that the National Park Service has given approval to dam part of the waterway where crews have been concentrating the search to drain it down in the efforts to locate Boudean.
The 4-year-old child, who has autism, went missing around 5:30 p.m. Thursday near the Twin Canals trail in the national park. Authorities believe he slipped into the water.
THe search began last week and continued through the weekend, including dive teams. Crews are focusing their search on waterways, because volunteers searched nearby land thoroughly, leaving officials to conclude Boudean is in the water somewhere, Jefferson Parish sheriff Joe Lopinto confirmed last week.
The dam is expected to be in place by midnight on Monday. According to The New Orleans Advocate, crews plan to build a dam about 500 feet from the bridge where the child is believed to have gone into the water and then drain the area.
Authorities are no longer calling it a rescue mission, but rather a recovery mission.
"I think it's a plan that can work," Lopinto said Monday during a news conference at the site.
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