Update: This article was updated at 2:40 a.m. with more information on a death investigation at a pond on Indianapolis’ south side.
Authorities found the bodies of three young children and an adult man in a pond on the south side of Indianapolis overnight Tuesday, likely bringing a tragic conclusion to the search for a missing Indianapolis dad and his kids.
While the bodies haven’t been positively identified, they were found — along with a car matching the description of Kyle Moorman’s — at a place where the father often went night fishing.
“We are still working to positively identify the individuals involved but there is commonality with the Moorman family,” said Assistant Chief Chris Bailey. “The Marion County Coroner’s Office will make all identifications and issue a cause of death.”
All signs point to the deceased being Kyle Moorman, 27, and his three children 5-year-old Kyle Moorman II, 2-year-old Kyannah Holland and 1-year-old Kyran Holland, Bailey said.
Family and friends searched the pond for several days along with the surrounding area near the intersection of Bluff Road and West Troy Avenue before the bodies were recovered.
Where were Kyle Moorman and his children last seen?
Kyle Moorman and his children were last seen at about 11 p.m. in the 1000 block of south Sherman Drive on Indianapolis’ east side on July 6, according to IMPD.
On Monday, Mariah Moorman, the missing man’s sister, said near the pond was where Kyle Moorman’s phone last pinged, which came around 12:40 a.m. July 7, a few hours after the last time he was seen, she said.
Mariah Moorman and dozens of other family members and friends searched the area looking for the man and his children for several days before the bodies were recovered from the pond.
“As far as we know, he was coming out here to go fishing,” Mariah Moorman said on Monday. “That’s what he told my sister. It’s not odd. He does it all the time. They go night fishing a lot.”
Family and friends offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the finding of Kyle Moorman and his children. A private helicopter and volunteers with a personal boat searched the pond and surrounding areas on Tuesday afternoon.
Selina Delarosa and Mike Jones, of Greenwood, assisted in the search. Delarosa said they fish the White River in the area and decided to help search after family had asked if they had any information.
Delarosa and Jones brought a boat to the pond and helped search the water Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Others in the search party used a magnet to search the bottom of the pond Monday evening and walked around the body of water looking for any signs of the missing man and his children.
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First responders with flashlights and K-9s circled the perimeter of the pond in the 2900 block of Bluff Road late into the night Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. They shone large spotlights onto the surface of the water as they gathered near a ramp into the pond near a parking lot off Bluff Road.
At about 10 p.m. Wednesday, IMPD officer Samone Burris confirmed police located an unresponsive adult man in the water. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities later recovered the bodies of three children. They were found in a vehicle submerged at the bottom of the pond, Bailey said.
Members of the Indianapolis Fire Department Dive Team and Department of Natural Resources were able to locate the vehicle, a black Saab, using sonar technology, according to a news release.
Investigators pulled the Saab out of the water at close to midnight using a wrecker.
Earlier Tuesday night, dozens of family members and friends of Kyle Moorman gathered on Bluff Road near the pond waiting on information from investigators.
William Muse, a family member of Kyle Moorman’s mother, said Tuesday he and other relatives were frustrated investigators didn’t search the pond sooner after the man and his children were reported missing.
“They should have at least tried,” Muse said.
Bailey said more details on how and why the deaths occurred will come out as the investigation progresses when asked Wednesday morning why dives team had not searched the pond sooner.
“That’s circumstances that the investigators are going through,” Bailey said. “They follow up multiple leads. They follow their processes, they follow their procedures. As we piece this all together we’ll know more about the why’s and how’s that led us here tonight and other locations we’ve been at as we investigated.”
Early Wednesday morning, Bailey said detectives would continue to collect evidence at the scene where the bodies were recovered.
“This is heartbreaking for everyone involved,” Bailey said. “Regardless of circumstances, we know a man and three young kids are dead tonight. We don’t know why and we don’t know how… We all need to support the family and wrap our arms around them tonight and the days that are to come as they grieve this loss.”
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
