Vernon Cops After Rescue Of 8-Year-Old From Swampy Area — 'It Was Like Quicksand.'

VERNON, CT — Vernon police Thursday detailed the complicated rescue of an autistic child a day earlier from a swampy area behind an apartment complex that involved an officer up to his waist in mud and a makeshift bridge.

"A lot of police officers have children, so how could something like this not have a little more (personal) touch to it," Vernon Police Department Spokesman Lt. Aaron Grechko said during a Thursday news conference detailing the call. "It's one of the reasons why we put on the uniform."

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At about 7 a.m. Wednesday Vernon police received a call that an 8-year-old "non-verbal" autistic child had gone missing from the Sleeping Giant apartment complex along the 1200 block of Hartford Turnpike.

A search immediately commenced.

"It was 6:58 and I was getting dressed," said Officer Dominic Marandino, who wound up being a key figure in the rescue. "I immediately went to the scene."

Marandino met up with Officer Cara Momnie and Sgt. Greg St. Pierre, who first at the scene and the search efforts led them to a swampy area near the apartment complex, behind a strip plaza.

That's when they encountered what Grechko termed "challenging terrain during heavy rain."

Said Marandino, "It was like quicksand."

"Every step I look, I began to sink," he said. "Officer Momnie suggested I take off my vest and that made it easier to move."

Marandino sank to his waist and one officer even lost a shoe.

Said Grechko, "Time was of the essence."

Officers began to hear screaming close by and noticed some cattails moving close to where the sounds were coming from. Marandino, now crawling, then located the boy about 200 yards from the abutting property lines, police said.

Police said he had no clothes on, was covered in mud and was described as being "distraught."

"It was like quicksand."

VPD Officer Dominic Marandino

The boy was unable to communicate how he wound up there, police said. There is no fencing between the edge of the property and the wooded and swampy area, police said.

Momnie and St. Pierre fashioned a makeshift bridge out of branches and thicker timber to make the transfer of the boy easier. He was carried to safety and reunited with parents.

"We kept getting stuck, but it was a good feeling when we were able to get to him," Marandino said.

Emergency medical personnel evaluated the child at the scene. Police said the child did not require transportation to a hospital.

Marandino remained overly modest during Thursday's news conference, but Vernon Town Administrator John W. Kleinhans sang the praises of the police.

"It was a coordinated effort and I'm proud of the Vernon Police Department," he said.

Here is an excerpt from police body cam footage of the rescue: