7-year-old girl last seen riding bike near home found dead in river, MA officials say

The body of a missing 7-year-old was found in a river in Massachusetts, officials said.

At 11:55 a.m. on July 10, dive teams with State Police found a young girl they believe to be Anna Mbura in a river in Lowell, according to a news release by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

The girl was found 20 yards from the shore under about 9 feet of water after officials used a sonar to locate an image they believed to be her, officials said. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the body.

Mbura was last seen riding her bike at 2 p.m. on July 9 near her family home, according to CBS News Boston.

After receiving reports of the missing child, Lowell Police searched her neighborhood with “K-9 teams, drones, state police air wings, ground search teams on foot, bicycles and ATVs,” officials said.

“We had literally hundreds of people come out. People were out with flashlights checking their property and checking the property of those who might be away,” District Attorney Marian Ryan said, according to Boston 25 News.

As reported by CBS News Boston, on the days leading up to the discovery of Mbura’s body, her art teacher, Lisa Labrecque, said “She’s a sweet little girl. She’s funny. She likes art. She likes to paint. She loves to paint. I’m just thinking about the family and how they must be feeling right now.”

A medical examiner will determine Mbura’s exact cause of death, officials said.

Lowell is about 30 miles northwest of Boston.

This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 2:10 PM with the headline "7-year-old girl last seen riding bike near home found dead in river, MA officials say."