Sketch released of child found dead on Galveston beach

GALVESTON, Texas – The Galveston Police Department released a sketch photo of a 3- to 5-year-old boy who was found on a beach in Galveston on Friday.

A person spotted the child about 5:35 p.m. while walking on the beach near 7th Street and Seawall Boulevard, authorities said.

There are no recent missing children cases in Galveston, authorities said. Investigators commissioned renown forensic sketch artist, Lois Gibson, to draw a sketch of the child for police.

"I want to reach out to that grandmother or the relative or the mommy or the daddy or some neighbor. Somebody who knows the baby," Gibson said.

Police said no one has come forward to report a missing child in the surrounding area. The medical examiner has not released a cause of death.

"Really in between about 7th Street Stuart Beach. There's a lot a grassland in here. There's not a lot of beach in between the dunes and the actual tide line, so, it's definitely not heavily trafficked, not heavily populated and really don't get a lot of people walking to and from," Capt. Joshua Schirard with the Galveston police said.

Police describe the child as 3 feet tall with a slender build, black hair and brown eyes.

Officials said this is an extremely unusual case and the circumstances surrounding the child's death grows more suspicious during the investigation.

"We are throwing every resource we possibly can at assuring we identify this child," Schirard said.

Investigators said they were looking into a missing person's case in Hawkins County, Tennessee, involving a boy whose picture is similar to the composite sketch of the boy found dead in Galveston. On Monday, investigators said that the cases are not releated.

The Police Department is asking anyone who may have any information concerning this case to call 409-765-3702 or Galveston County Crime Stoppers at 409-763-8477.

KPRC will provide updates when they become available.

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