For parents across the world, there are few things more terrifying than losing track of where your child is. Austin and Courtney Farley would certainly relate to that as their young son August went missing in July 2018. However, a few hours later, a group of divers found a body in nearby Lake residents of Fort Worth, Texas. Austin and Courtney were proud parents of four children named Ivy, West Lake and August. In the summer of 2018, the young family decided to take a vacation traveling up to Smith Mountain Lake, which is just outside Roanoke, Virginia.
On the morning of July 5, 2018, Austin and Courtney prepared breakfast for the quartet inside their Lake house. After waking the kids, Austin looked to heed some s’mores from his family before they all ventured out to Radford, Virginia for the day to see some relatives. Unfortunately, though, those plans quickly changed as the fire started to heat their breakfast.
Stuff often headed upstairs to fetch the children, but he soon realized that August wasn’t there. At 08:30 a.m. The parents styled 911 to report their son’s sudden disappearance. They subsequently provided a detailed description of the twoyearold, with particular focus on his blue eyes and long blonde hair. Austin and Courtney stated that they’d last set their eyes on their son around 2 hours earlier, noting the yellow shirt and dinosaur pajama bottoms he was wearing at the time.
Before long, a large search party was formed, with locals joining Virginia State Police in their bid to find August. August was the funniest, most precocious kid, Austin told ABC affiliate W, said TV as the search began. I mean, his nickname is Danger Baby. You know, I keep looking up in the trees because I just feel like he’s going to be climbing in one of them. He’s only two years old, but he’s so adventurous.
On that note, Austin then turned his attention to the rest of the family. They were doing good. The kids are obviously asking, Where’s August? He continued. And we’re trying to reassure him that he’s just found the best hiding spot in the greatest game of Hideandseek that has ever been played.
So they’re doing okay. My wife is very strong, Austin added, and she’s obviously distraught. But we’re both just constantly praying. A K Nine unit was dispatched to a the search effort, along with some boats and a helicopter. Meanwhile, the local fire Department also offered their services, providing a drone as the search continued.
In the background, Austin gave another interview about his son, this time with Courtney by his side. We’re just trusting in God, he told NBC affiliate Wslstv. We know that August is going to be okay. He’s going to come home safe, and even if he doesn’t, God’s got us in his hands. We just really want him home safe.
Later that morning, the Scruggs dive team joined the search, starting their own sweep with a Lake. The group was first formed back in 1987 as an extension of the Scruggs Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. Since then, they’ve conducted numerous searches of Smith Mountain Lake. At around 11:00 A.m., the dive team focused their attention on the area surrounding the dock, looking for any sign of August. The divers then headed some 12ft down to the Lakers face, continuing their detailed sweep.
Close to 2 hours later, however, the group made a tragic discovery. It is with a heavy heart that I’m reporting the body of this young man was found at 12:55 P.m., Major Ricky Gardner of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office told reporters. According to ABC 13, he was found near the dock by divers. We ask that you respect the family, and we ask that you pray for the family who have obviously been going through a very tough time. The discovery of August’s body rocked the local area, with Captain Greg Mccormald, a member of the Scruggs dive team, noting the impact.
This is a big tragedy in the community, he told Wslstp, something fortunately, we don’t often face, but when we do, our thoughts and prayers always go straight to the family. On that note, Mccorgondal then turned his attention to his dive team, stating that they had been well prepared for such situations. This is something we’ve trained for, for ourselves, and we do check on each other, he added. We do call, make sure everybody’s OK. Meanwhile, there was an outpouring of sympathy for the family on social media after the announcement, with hundreds of users leaving messages on Wsatv’s Facebook page.
Indeed, the tragic news generated more than 1500 comments, many of them praising the effort to the local search parties. Prayers for Augustine’s family, wrote Oklikovi’s. Third, also to the first responders and divers, those are tough jobs. It takes a special person to do that. Those words were echoed by Chelsea Owen Birch, who reserved special praise for the neighbors and strangers who had helped with the search effort.
Prayers for the family, but also the search and rescue law enforcement, along with the other volunteers that came to help, Owen Birch wrote in the Facebook comments section. This is not something you recover from. God bless them all. Thank you all. A few days after his body was found, the cause of August’s death was revealed to the public by the Roanoke Medical Examiner Office.
After conducting an autopsy, the office confirmed that the twoyearold had accidentally drowned at Smith Mountain Lake. As for August’s family, a GoFundMe page was set up by some of their friends following the tragedy who were looking to help however they could. Since then, the appeal has earned over $40,000 in donations, just shy of the $50,000 goal. As the Farleys continued to mourn, one of the local workers offered some more words of sympathy. It’s so sad to hear a little boy lost his life just because he was curious and wanted to see what this world is about, Lauren Dalton told WS TV in July 2018.