BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The body of a 9-year-old boy who was allegedly abducted from outside his home in south Bakersfield has been found in a sump.

Reports Wednesday afternoon indicated a discovery was made after digging in a sump near the home where Zane Anthony Newton, 9, was said to have been shot and abducted. Police said in a news conference Wednesday evening that there was not an abduction or shooting, and that the death appeared to be accidental.

"It hurts, he was like one of my kids," Julio Munoz, who helped recover Newton's body, said.

"I can't describe what I saw, I just tried to do my best to get him out."

Newton was playing with a friend in the sump when there was some kind of accident, burying Newton under dirt. The friend fabricated the story about the shooting and abduction, according to police.

"I saw him sitting in front of the fence. Then he tried to jump it but his shorts got caught," Maria Delgadillo, who lives next to the empty lot, said through a translator.

"He struggled and got free, and ran to meet the other boy."

An Amber Alert had been issued Wednesday for the 9-year-old boy, police said.

Wednesday morning police said the boy may have been shot and kidnapped around 10:30 a.m.

According to police, Newton was playing with another 9-year-old boy outside his home at Half-Dome Way and St. Helens near Pacheco Road and Hughes Lane, when the Newton's friend said a black-looking Honda-type vehicle with a white driver-side door pulled up.

Police indicated the boy said a man got out of the car, shot Newton in the shoulder, then grabbed and kidnapped him by putting him in the car. According to police, there was no blood at scene and no steel casings, so the shooting was never confirmed. One neighbor said she heard muffled noises and a possible shot coming from down the street, but didn't think anything of it.

Police said they were looking for a white male wearing black clothing, a possible black mask or dark face make-up. They were also looking for a black four-door compact Honda-type vehicle with a white driver-side door and green license plate frame that was heading toward Highway 99. Police said they used all available assets to locate the vehicle. They issued an Amber Alert, which was cancelled late Wednesday afternoon.

Neighbors at the time said they didn't know why anyone would hurt or kidnap Newton and that he's a great boy.

Days earlier, he was at a neighbor's house for a sleepover. Residents say thay cannot believe how someone they would see every day was just taken away in an instant.

"He was just so happy, my son just gave him a new baseball cap and he was just all excited," Jamie, a neighbor, said.

"Just from that one day to this, the next, it's just tragic."

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