Tragic ending to 24-hour search for a child leaves Putnam County family devastated

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — The Putnam County Sheriff’s office found 1-year-old Jose Lara in a septic tank on his family’s property after what appeared to be a tragic accident.

Sheriff H.D. “Gator” Deloach spoke after alerting the family, saying, “This was certainly the worst possible case scenario as far as outcome.”

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Deputies say the boy’s mother was outside with Jose and his sister when she took his sister inside to clean her up. When she came back out, the boy was gone.

There was no evidence of foul play, so volunteers and police searched the property all day, only finding the 1-year-old once they checked the bodies of water and septic tank with infrared cameras.

“Just beneath the layer of dirt there was actually a piece of plywood that had been there for some time and appeared to have rotted to the extent that whenever he stepped on it, he actually fell in,” the sheriff said.

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The tank was just 35 to 40 yards from the house, making it easy for the boy to wander over. Police say the family was renting the home.

The accident has raised questions about the safety of the property.

“If the septic tank is not properly covered, and there’s a requirement as the owner and operator of any property, so in this case the landlord, there is a requirement to secure your property and keep it safe,” said attorny Kay Harper Williams.

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Williams is a Jacksonville-based attorney who has worked on cases like this in the past, and she said that since the family was renting, they should have been told there was a septic tank and about the surrounding dangers.

“That indicates that the family was likely renting here ... so some questions would be, ‘Where they made aware of whether or not there was in fact a septic tank on the property?’ If so, were they aware of that location? Were they aware it was only covered with wood and not a more secure form of covering?”

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Harper Williams says the low cost to fix any dangers from septic tanks, like a high density cover or something similar, makes Jose Lara’s death that much more tragic.

“For less than 50 bucks here, this little boy would still be alive,” she added.

Deputies described what made this search so difficult. The area where the septic tank was located was overgrown and the plywood had some amount of spring to it. So, when Jose fell through, it came back to a similar position as it had been in before.

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