Aurora Police today announced a terrible development in the search for David Puckett, the 6-year-old boy who went missing from an Aurora residence on New Year’s Eve.

What appears to be a child’s body was found beneath the ice of a frozen pond as hundreds of volunteers and law-enforcement officers searched for Puckett, Chief Nick Metz said today.

There is no confirmation that the body is David Puckett’s, but Metz said that “because of this information,” he had informed Puckett’s family of the discovery.

“And even though we don’t have a positive identification yet, they are devastated,” Metz said.

A search dog had indicated that something may have been under the pond. There was no “breakage of the ice,” Metz said.

“We did let the family know it was going to take some time before we could have a positive identification on the person,” he said.

The search and investigation will continue. The pond is being treated as a crime scene.