Bodies Of 2 Missing Boys Discovered?

Autopsies were scheduled Saturday on two bodies found in a park lagoon near where two boys have been missing for almost a month.

The first of the two bodies was found Friday around 7:30 p.m. after a man and his son walking in the park saw something floating, Police Chief Nan Hegerty said.

"It's not a young child, and it's not an adult," Hegerty said. "It's somewhat decomposed. It's very difficult at this early time to make any indication of who the child might be."

Purvis Virginia Parker, 11, and Quadrevion Henning, 12, were last seen the afternoon of March 19 when they asked Henning's grandfather if they could play basketball at the nearby park.

"Yes, it's my son," said Angela Virginia, who said she identified Purvis from a photo that police showed her. She said Quadrevion was identified by his family.

Police did not immediately confirmed the identities, and Quadrevion's family could not immediately be reached for comment.

Divers from the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Fire Department found the second body around 10 p.m. Both bodies were fully clothed, had been in the lagoon from quite some time and were bloated, authorities said.

"Apparently that body too had come up to the surface and was caught in a somewhat of a weedy, wooded area of the lagoon," Hegerty said early Saturday morning.

In the ensuing days after the boys were reported missing, police and volunteers searched the neighborhood, passed out flyers throughout the city and made repeated appeals for information anyone might have on what happened to the youngsters.

Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz complained last month that they didn't have substantial leads despite hundreds of phone calls to a tip line. In addition to the door-to-door searching, officers used dogs and thermo-imaging equipment to look for the boys, Schwartz said.

The department frequently gets reports of missing children, but they typically have a history of running away and turn up quickly, she said. The two boys do not have a history of running away.

Law enforcement divers previously waded through the icy water trying to eliminate the possibility the boys drowned in the lagoon. But because there was mud on the bottom, it was possible the bodies could have been missed in a search, Hegerty said.

Officers went to the homes of Parker and Henning after the discoveries were made, Hegerty said. Authorities planned to use dental records to determine the identity of the bodies on Saturday.

"I think it's tragic any time that you recover the body of a dead child," Hegerty said. "Of course, we're not to the point where we can identify them yet."

A Florida group called A Child Is Missing has also been helping police in the search. The group called all home and business telephone numbers within a mile of where the boys were last seen and played a recorded message about the pair, officials have said. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and America's Most Wanted also posted pictures of the boys on their Web sites.