No one knows how or why, what happened next could have happened. The Browns, who were housesitting for Stephanie's (Dylan's mom) parents, knew there was a locked gate between the yard and the wash that ran behind their parents' home and felt the kids would be safer playing in the backyard. As they were bringing the kids into the backyard for safety, Dylan slipped away. His parents began looking for him, not knowing where he had disappeared to. A call was placed to 911 to report him missing. The neighbors started looking for him, some taking off on ATVs trying to find Dylan. After about a half hour of frantically searching, one of the neighbors found Dylan's body in the wash. He was unresponsive. CPR was performed and he was taken to Banner Ironwood, where he was later pronounced dead at 8:30pm.
"We're going to miss him," said Dylan's uncle Paul Schreiber. "He was a beautiful little boy."
When asked if he had anything to share, he stated "My sister is overly cautious, anal retentive actually. This was a horrible accident and just a situation when for only a split second, one parent thought the other parent had him. All it took was a second."
The Browns have asked for privacy as they prepare for Dylan's funeral. A memorial account has been established at Desert Schools Federal Credit Union under the name 'Dylan Dee Brown' to help with funeral expenses. Paul said they are fortunate to have family on both sides with them during this time.
Paul did want to thank all of the neighbors. "We are so grateful that the entire neighborhood pulled together, some risking their own lives to find Dylan. We know that Dylan is with our other family members that have passed and he is playing with them now but we're really going to miss him."
