A heartbreaking search for a missing 2-year-old Texas girl ended in tragedy after her body was discovered in a creek less than 500 yards from her home, leaving a neighborhood struggling to understand how the toddler managed to leave the house unnoticed.

Aryana Trevino Martinez was reported missing from her San Antonio neighborhood at around 8 p.m. Sunday, triggering an Amber Alert and an urgent search involving law enforcement and local residents. The alert was later canceled after the child was found.

Police said surveillance footage appeared to show the toddler walking toward the creek area. However, authorities have not yet determined exactly how she left her home or what happened in the hours that followed. Her official cause of death has also not been confirmed, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The discovery came around midnight, roughly four hours after police received the missing-person report.

The toddler was found by 22-year-old Uriel Ramirez, the son of a local resident who had joined the search after hearing about the Amber Alert. His mother, Anna Marie Ramirez, recalled the frantic efforts to find the missing child, saying she wanted to help in any way possible.

The thick vegetation made parts of the area difficult to search, but Uriel continued looking. After scanning the creek from a rocky area, he noticed something in the water.

He immediately went toward the location and brought the child out of the creek.

Speaking about the heartbreaking discovery, Uriel said he struggled to put the moment into words. He later told his mother, “I found her.”

The incident has left residents deeply shaken, with many questioning how a child so young could have traveled from her home to the creek without being noticed.

David Alcantar, a neighbor, expressed the same concern, saying the first question that came to his mind was how a 2-year-old could have made it to the area alone.

Aryana was last seen wearing a black top and leopard-print pants, according to the Amber Alert issued during the search. The discovery of surveillance footage showing her walking toward the creek has become an important part of the investigation as authorities work to reconstruct her final hours.

An Amber Alert is issued when authorities have reasonable grounds to believe a child has been abducted and faces an imminent threat of serious harm or death, along with enough information to assist in locating the child or a suspected abductor. In this case, the alert was canceled after Aryana was found.

Police have not announced any arrests or indicated that another person was involved in the toddler’s death. Investigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and are working to determine exactly what happened before she was found.

The tragedy has brought an outpouring of grief to the San Antonio community. A vigil for Aryana is scheduled to be held Tuesday evening, giving family members, neighbors and others a chance to come together and remember the young girl whose disappearance sparked a desperate search that ended in unimaginable heartbreak.