DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Macon County Coroner held an inquest for the death of Dominic Walker.
Walker's death was ruled accidental on Wednesday morning during the inquest.
Walker went missing on May 11, while he was staying with his father in Decatur. The teen was from Mattoon and was visiting family.
Walker’s father told WAND-TV his son, who has Asperger's syndrome, was watching Netflix when he went to sleep at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Dominic was gone when he woke up at about 8 a.m. According to the father, the back door of the West King Street home – which leads to a gated yard - was open at that time.
On May 16, Decatur Police Department officers confirmed a body was located at Dreamland Lake. The body was identified as Walker.
Macon County Coroner Michael Day, told jurors at the inquest that the body was decomposing, meaning Walker's body had been in the water for sometime.
Walker's mother testified during the inquest saying that Dominic would never leave home without his phone, tablet and bouncy ball.
"He didn't do it in Mattoon, he wouldn't do it in Decatur," said the teen's mother.
Decatur police testified that on two previous occasions police had to return Walker home from McDonald's on Eldorado Street. These reports came in between 3:30 and 4 a.m. Police say he went there to use the WIFI.
Police also say that Walker used Google to search the area of Fairview Park on April 29. They also mention he had visited Dreamland Lake in Fairview Park before with his father.
The family told WAND-TV they are going to call for cameras to added to locations in the park, in hopes of preventing tragedies like this in the future.
