A 5-year-old boy was found dead in a rural area of upstate New York late Thursday night, just hours after authorities issued an Amber Alert for the missing child.

An unnamed person of interest is now being questioned in the death of Kenneth White, Albany County sheriffs told the Albany Times Union. No other details about the person have been released.

"It's a horrific act and we hope to have more details in the next few hours," Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple told WGY-810AM.

County investigators initially said White was kidnapped by two men wearing ski masks from his Berne home, the Albany Times Union reported. A 19-year-old relative who was watching White at the time was pinned to the floor while the boy was taken, investigators were told. Apple said they no longer believe that story to be true. 

An Amber Alert was issued but was called off between Thursday night and Friday morning when a police K-9 unit found White's body not far from the trailer where he lived, he told WCVB.

White was reportedly being watched by the teenage daughter of White's aunt, who was his legal guardian. The child's mother lives in Amsterdam, New York, and his father lives in Massachusetts.