Boise police: 8-year-old’s death not an accident

BOISE — Police say the death of an 8-year-old boy who was missing for more than a week before his body was found in a canal was not an accident. Deputy Chief Jim Kerns said Wednesday the death of Robert Manwill is an active homicide investigation. Kerns says there is no evidence the boy was abducted by a stranger. The child reportedly disappeared July 24 after leaving his mother’s apartment in Boise. A passerby called emergency workers Monday to report a body in the canal near Kuna about 1:30 p.m. The boy was visiting his mother, who was previously convicted of hurting another child, the night he vanished. His father, Charles Manwill, lives in New Plymouth and has had custody since 2008.