Three missing boys found dead Father finds young friends in car trunk Sheets were hung around the car where three boys were found dead Friday night. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Police Crime, Law and Justice or or Create Your Own CAMDEN, New Jersey (CNN) -- Three young boys missing for two days were found dead Friday night in the trunk of a car by one child's father, who jumped away screaming and sobbing after his grim discovery. Later he fell to the ground yelling, "Let me go! Let me go!" as several men sought to hold and console him. A large crowd quickly gathered, crying and shouting, not far from the home of one of the children, 11-year-old Anibal Cruz. Cruz, 6-year-old Daniel Agosto and 5-year-old Jesstin Pagan had been missing since Wednesday. "We are saddened by the events that have turned up this evening," Police Chief Edwin J. Figueroa told reporters late Friday. "As you know ... the three children have been found, and they were found in the trunk of a car." The cause of their deaths is unknown, and police were not ruling out the possibility that it was an accident, Figueroa said. He said the car -- a maroon Toyota Camry -- was an older model, and had no device in the trunk that would allow someone inside to open it. Figueroa said he didn't know when the autopsies would be completed. "Preliminary indications show that the vehicle was located there" when the hunt for the boys got under way in that area Thursday morning with the help of a bloodhound, he said. "We know the car was searched," Figueroa added. He said logs will be examined to find out which officers were at that site. Many police officers were extremely upset over the discovery of the bodies, he said. "We have a very fresh and active investigation in this case," said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi at the same news conference. "There are many issues that we have to look into." The families of the children, he said, were "extremely distraught and grieving." They were receiving counseling to help them cope with their losses. Sarubbi initially said investigators were treating the area where the car was found as a crime scene, but then said it was an "open investigation. We haven't determined whether this was foul play or just a tragic accident." The bodies were found about 7 p.m. in the Cramer Hill neighborhood. After the discovery, police cordoned off the area with crime tape, then hung sheets over it to hide the car from view near a wooded area. The children were last seen around 5 p.m. Wednesday playing in the side yard of Cruz's home. Daniel Agosto lived nearby, while Jesstin Pagan lived farther away. Elba Cruz, Anibal's mother, said she left the three children playing in the yard for five to 10 minutes while she cooked dinner. When she returned, they were gone. There was a massive search for the boys by police, firefighters and other officials, using dogs, helicopters and boats. Police had said they did an exhaustive search of the entire neighborhood, about three square miles. Earlier Friday, police announced a $9,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the boys. CNN's Allan Chernoff contributed to this report. Home Page Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. Home Page Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.