Tragic end: Timothy Wallace, 9, was struck and killed by a train in rural Tennessee Sunday night after he took off from a relative's home . A 9-year-old autistic boy from Tennessee was struck and killed by a train Sunday night after he wandered away from a relative's home on his own. Timothy Wallace was staying at his aunt's house in Sale Creek Sunday when he went missing at around 10pm Sunday. Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond said Timothy, a third-grader at Griffith Elementary School in Dunlap, was non-verbal and had walked away from home in the past. After an hour-long search in heavy rain and dense fog, rescuers came upon the 9-year-old's body along railroad track near Coulterville Road in rural Tennessee. Investigators later determine that Timothy was struck and killed by a northbound Norfolk Southern train. The operators of the train told sheriff’s deputies they did not know the locomotive had struck a child. Timothy Wallace’s grieving mother recalled to the station WRCB that her son, who was severely autistic, saw a train for the first time just a couple of days ago and seemed amused by it. Scroll down for video . Heartbreaking find: A worker on a passing train spotted Timothy's body in the brush along the train tracks in Sale Creek . Missing boy: Wallace was staying at his aunt's house (pictured) Sunday when he wandered off . When Timothy's family reported him missing Sunday night, they told deputies they did not know in which direction the child may have taken off. According to The Chattanoogan, he left the house barefoot wearing only a shirt and a pair of shorts. A worker aboard a passing train spotted Timothy's body in the brush near the tracks at around 11pm and raised the alarm. The third-grader was discovered dead less than a mile from his aunt's residence in Sale Creek. The youngest of five siblings, as well as several half-brothers and sisters, Timothy was described by his cousin Sonia Stuart as intelligent and loving. Desperate search: Rescuers spent an hour scouring the area in heavy rain and dense fog, but it was too late . ‘He was special in his own way, and we will miss him terribly as a family,’ said an emotional Ms Stuart. Officials with the Tennessee Department of Children's Services told News Channel 9 they have a 'history' with Timothy's family and will launch an investigation of their own into the boy's tragic death.
Timothy Wallace, third-grader from Tennessee, was discovered dead near train tracks in Sale Creek Sunday night . The non-verbal boy took off from aunt's house and was killed less than a mile away . Timothy's mother said he had seen a train for the first time just a couple of days prior to tragedy .