The two-year-old who died in a canal in Northampton has been named as Jehovah Pembele.
Known as ‘Giovanni’, the toddler is understood to have been playing outside his home in West Cotton Close, when he disappeared.
Police were alerted to the house at around 6pm on Saturday when the youngster was reported missing.
The boy's body was found hidden by thick weeds by the nearby canal following a 30 minute search by officers, family and residents.
Paramedics attended the scene and the boy was taken to Northampton General Hospital and later transferred to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, where he later died.
Two-year-old 'Giovanni'
Northamptonshire Police are working with the family to establish the circumstances leading up to the death.
A force spokeswoman said they were not treating the death as suspicious at this time as it is thought the boy fell into the canal.
Speaking to The Northampton Chronicle & Echo, the boy's father Fernando Kutati said: “I went into the house and I came back out and I didn’t see my son again. There were maybe ten kids in the road and maybe one of them saw him and can help us (to find out what happened). He was a very good boy. He was a very good child.
“I would like to hear from someone who saw my son walking and can tell me or the police what they saw. I would like a fence to be put up. The fence will help not just the kids it will help adults too.”
According to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, this is the second youngster to die in the water in the past week. Daniel McCullagh, 15 from Woodford, died in the River Nene last Tuesday.
Anyone with information or who witnesses the incident is asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.