MARIETTA, Ga. — A family is grieving after the tragic end in the search for a 2-year-old reported missing in Marietta on Friday afternoon.

Marietta Police said little Messiah Harris was found dead in a wood line behind an apartment complex. According to the police department, officers were dispatched to the complex, Briggs at Powers Park, on Ridge Run just before 2 p.m. after learning that the 2-year-old was missing.

Marietta Police said the person watching Harris told them the toddler was last seen at the apartment around 1:30 p.m. The mother was not home at the time.

“As we stated earlier, the initial on-scene investigation became unclear because the caregiver was giving statements that just didn’t make sense and weren’t consistent,” Marietta Police Public Information Officer Chuck McPhilamy said.

 In an update, police shared that the toddler was found deceased around 7:20 p.m.

At this time, no one has been charged, and it’s unclear if there was foul play.

“What we are able to confirm right now from the medical examiner’s statements, as well as just observations while recovering his body, it appeared that his body had been there for quite some time,” McPhilamy said as he explained the body may have been there for hours. However, the time frame is still under investigation.

McPhilamy said investigators are working to determine whether the caregiver was related to the child or a friend of the family.

The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office has retrieved his body from the scene. McPhilamy said detectives will work through the night to try to determine what led up to this tragic end.

Harris would have turned 3 years old in just two weeks.

“This was an incredibly tragic ending. This is the absolute worst ending that any of us could have possibly asked for. If you saw any of the officers’ faces as they were leaving, you can see it written all over their faces. This is something they’ll carry with them,” McPhilamy said.

McPhilamy asked for the community to keep the family in their thoughts and prayers.

The death investigation remains ongoing.