the clearlake police chief choked up as he made the announcement this morning. searchers spotted the body of nine-year-old mikaela lynch in the water, just a few doors down from her family's vacation home. >> mikaela's body was discovered not far away from the house where she disappeared from. and it had surfaced under a pontoon boat. >> reporter: mikaela, who was autistic and unable to speak, wandered away from the home on sunday afternoon. the girl was from san francisco. a massive search was launched in this area, with officers in boats and volunteers on land, all hoping to find mikaela alive. >> i was real thankful they found her, for the family. tragic. >> reporter: police say mikaela was left alone for just a couple minutes in a fenced-in area of the yard when she walked off. her death has hit this community hard. >> it was a shock for all of us. everybody chipped in. even my wife and i went up and down the street and all over this whole area. it was really sad. >> reporter: clearlake police don't suspect foul play was involved in mikaela's disappearance b

chief the police, thank you, from the clearlake police department. center here. volunteers are arriving. they went through a briefing. they will be getting out there to search for 9-year-old mikaela lynch hoping to find this little girl alive. >> we're live this morning in clearlake, alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >> all right. meantime, in calaveras county, the father of 8-year-old leila fowler is standing by his 12- year-old son after the son was arrested in connection with his sister's stabbing death. the boy was arrested saturday, two weeks after leila was killed at her home in calaveras county. the boy told investigators an intruder stabbed leila. their father is telling "the associated press." he will believe his son is innocent until he is proven otherwise. the 12-year-old boy may have been in trouble before. according to cnn, the boy was suspended from his middle school this year after being accused of bringing a small pocketknife on the school campus. that report says the boy was suspended for five days because of the incident. >>> 8:02.

the clearlake police chief says there's surveillance video from a neighbor's house showing mikaela running away from her home. >> it shows she was alive and well at a certain time. >> reporter: searchers have come in from a number of different counties to help find this little girl. neighbors are also pitching. janet wilson was -- jeanette wilson was passing out fliers. >> won'tfully we find her. we to pray -- we hopefully find her. we have to keep praying. >> reporter: authorities say there's no reason to believe that foul play was involved in the disappearance. the family's vacation home backs up right to the lake. authorities say mikaela loves the water but does not know how to swim. i'm told more resources are on the way here to this command center in clearlake and the chief tells me this search will go on as long as it has to. alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. >>> >>> now, the father of leila fowler is standing by his 12- year-old son after he was arrested in connection with his sisters's death. he was arrested on saturday, two weeks after leila fowler was stabbed to de

the clearlake police chief said the 9-year-old doesn't often respond to voices and doesn't speak. she needs a specific approach if located. >> to actually put your hand out in a sub missive manner and that is one of her ways she will come to the search and rescuers and use calming, soothing voices. nothing real aggressive because she was not respond to her name being called. >> lynch is autistic. the only confirmed sighting a surveillance tape that shows her passing by homes near the vacation home where she was staying. >> there's waters on both sides of it and there's water surrounding that area, so away from the home but not away from the water. >> does that tell you anything? >> just her last known location and her direction of travel with a time. >> she likes water so boats again part of the search. atvs, teams on foot. she didn't have clothes on. she sometimes take them off when she's warm. >> i have daughters and kids and i hope anybody would do the same if, heaven for bid, mine came up missing or something happened. >> neighbors are being asked to check their own properties

clearlake police said it appears mikaela, who had the mental capacity of a 1-year- old, wandered into the creek on her own. >> it's very sad and sometimes this is how it ends up. it's a very tragic day. >> sadly, stories like hers are not uncommon. according to the national autism association, in recent years 91% of autistic children found dead after wandering from home had drowned. >>> it is 4:38 now. the owner of a santa cruz party bus company is now under arrest in connection with a death of a passenger. john reno st. james owns party bus of santa cruz. he is charged with vehicular and involuntary manslaughter after a 25-year-old natasha nolan fell out of one of his buses last july while on highway 17 near los gatos. santa clara county grand jury accuses the owner now of gross negligence. >>> other bay area stories we're following on this thursday, organizers of the bay to breakers road race set to hold a news conference this afternoon to discuss increased security efforts. changes were made in the wake of the boston marathon bombings. the race in san francisco is set to go sunday

i just got off the phone with clearlake police.n what is happening now and the difficulties crews are facing today. [ female announcer ] the one for all. mcdonald's dollar menu, home of the meaty, melty mcdouble you love... and now love two more tastes, the bold hot n spicy mcchicken, and the irresistible new grilled onion cheddar. each just a dollar. >>> welcome back. firefighters are busy in redwood city. they are gonna be an an apartment fire throughout this morning. the fire near fair oaks elementary started in a car port. then it spread to the apartments. brian flores is there and he says the firefighters got everything under control just a little while ago. >> reporter: good morning. firefighters got this under control a little while ago. take a look at the damage. this happened here around 5:15 on the 600 block of oak side avenue. take a look at the damage. you see the damage on the bottom floor. that's where the fire started and quickly spread to the upstairs residents' area where at least 20 people are displaced. you can s

a sergeant with the clearlake police department tells me that her death definitely appears accidental. >> we have no reason to suspect any foul play. >> reporter: an autopsy will be done on mikaela's body later on this week, but according to the police sergeant, there are no obvious signs of trauma. i did get a chance to talk off camera with one of mikaela's relatives. she told me she and the family, they are all devastated by today's discovery. she also did say that she believed, in her words, mikaela ran free. we're live in afternoon in clearlake, alex savage, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> coming up at 6, the discovery at mikaela's body has hit hard at her school in san francisco. the outpouring of emotion and some of the signs being put up there. >>> she was trying to save the children. we learned today what the aunt of two little girls hit by a car did in the moments before that deadly crash. since we first brought you this story, there have been no arrests. ktvu's robert handa spoke with a family member who explained how it all happened. >> reporter: parents volunteered as crossing gu

anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the clearlake police department or the lakeice. the federal government has agreed to review repairs plans for the new eastern span of the bay bridge. as you know, 32 cracked bolts were discovered, prompting state officials to come up with a fix. kron 4's dan kerman is here to explain just what the federal government will be doing. the toll bridge oversight program committee which is the lead agency overseeing construction of the new span is the organization that requested the federal governments help as you know, this group is deciding on how to repair the cracked bolts, and which ones need repair before the new span opens. administration has been asked to assemble a team to double check the committee's findings and recommendations make sure their solution is the best and safest possible they discussed this at their >> we're asking for the federal highway administration to bring their expertise. that once we make a judgment day will concur. if the federal high when administration does not agree then we will have a new problem a

instead, the clearlake police chief delivered the worst possible news. >> miss mikaela has been foundeceased in the water not far from the residence. >> reporter: so search-and- rescue crews were sadly no longer needed. the 9-year-old was in her yard with her younger brother sunday afternoon. he went inside and she disappeared. mikaela was autistic unable to speak with the mental capacity of a 1-year-old. she was found this morning in cache creek, which ran near her home. officials don't suspect foul play. >> it's heartfelt and it's difficult for me to even stand here and speak. >> we just hug -- we're just had goning a lot and we listened. >> reporter: the chaplain got to know them and the friends through the search. he says the san francisco family used this weekend home as an escape and called their efforts to find the little girl extraordinary. >> these people didn't come up here to set and watch and let somebody else do anything. they came up here to do business. >> reporter: for days now, hundreds of people have been looking for the girl, 100 were officials but 100 more voluntee

. >>> another large-scale search is underway in clearlake for a 9-year-old autistic girl from san francisco. police say more than a hundred volunteers are looking for mikaela lynch near the family's clearlake vacation home. touch teams have been looking for her since sunday. she lashes to laugh but does not speak or respond to her -- she loves to laugh but does not speak or respond to her name. surveillance video shows the little girl running away from the lake, so the search has turned to the neighborhood. the police say it's difficult terrain. >> the houses that are on the lake, there's -- they are built out over the lake and you have to get up under the houses and so on. there's crawlspaces under there. >> her parents say she was playing outside with her brother when she took off her clothes. her medication sometimes makes her hot and she want ran away. >>> san francisco police say they've evicted two dozen squatters from the ingleside district. we have more details on a story that was breaking on "mornings on 2." david stevenson explains why there was such a heavy police presence there. >> repo

. >>> police and divers busy back out at clearlake today search forego a missing 9-year-old autistic girl from san francisco. mikaela lynch wandered away northeast of santa rosa on sunday. she was playing with her brother. he ran inside for a minute. when he came back, mikaela was gone. mikaela cannot speak. although she is 9 years old, sh only has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old. the family's vacation home backs up to cash creek, which could be a risk because mikaela cannot swim. >>> in the south bay crews are investigating an overnight fire at a day spa in san jose. san jose fire tweeted out these pictures of the fire early this morning. flames broke out of the building near highway 85 around 2:00 a.m. the fire is now out. there are no reports of any injuries. the cause is still under investigation. >>> also in san jose, four people are recovering with minor injuries after an accident involving a pickup truck. a vta bus and a luna park home. it happened at 11th and empire streets about 6:00 last night. a vta spokesperson said the pickup ran a red light and hit the bus which ra

her family weekend in clearlake to let her be near something she loved , this according to the police chaplin who has been comforting the family. mikale he says, could not swim. >> she is with god now >> reporter:the church turned commandher family is now making funeral plans and has asked for privacy as they grieve. in clearlake justine waldman kron 4 news. >> pam: search teams had spent the past few days scouring the southern edge of clear lake looking for mikaela lynch. kron 4's charles clifford has a closer look at the neighborhood where the girl disappeared. >> reporter: if these two men and take a closer look at the southern edge mchale a disappeared from her family's vacation home around harbor lane with water on both sides disappearing about 130 sunday afternoon. neighbors had captured the current running. search and rescue teams have been scouring the entire environment the last couple of days searching for her. just before noon on wednesday mchale was body was found in the body not far from where she initially appeared on sunday. charles clifford in the news room kron 4 news

victim's family and police want anyone who has information about who was inside that lexus to come forward. maureen kelly, kron 4 news. >>pam:a vigiil is being held tonight in clearlakewho was found dead hawks yesterday. divers found mikaela lynch's body in a creek near thethe severely autistic girl. disappeared sunday. police say, there is no evidence of fo play. thrial will be held at j-and-l market. >>catherine:in developing news. the u-s marshals service has apparently lost a couple of the people who were in their witness protection program. what makes this more troubling - both of them are described as "known or suspected terrorists." that's according to a justice department audit. the report says that one of the suspects was later found to be living outside the u.s. the other person is also believed to have left the country. the justice department is trying to play this down - by saying that the number of known or suspected terrorists represents "a fraction of one percent" of program. e in the witness >>jacqueline: the rain that pass through earlier to date has moved to the east and to the south so we are dealing with the drier conditions and clear skies as you

. >>> police and volunteers in lake county, they are searching for a missing 9-year-old autistic girl who cannot speak. mikaela lynch was reported missing yesterday afternoon from her clearlakeseen out in the front yard. the lake county sheriff's department is using a boat equipped with sonar to check the lake. no amber alert has been issued. police say in her case right now, it does not meet the criteria. >>> continuing coverage on the stabbing death of leila fowler. her 12-year-old brother has been arrested in connection with his sister's death. ktvu's alex savidge is live in calaveras county, where the close-knit community is reacting to this news. good morning, alex. >> reporter: this community is stunned by the arrest of leila fowler's brother. the 12-grade boy is a student here at toyon middle school. the superintendent says this school will have grief counselors available for students as they return to class later this morning. this boy was arrested saturday for the stabbing death of his sister. he attended the vigil for his sister. her brother was the only one home at the time. he initially told investigators that he saw an intruder running from the family's house an