Missing boy found safe and warm
After a massive search for a little boy in single-digit temperatures, police learned he’d been hiding inside his home the whole time.
Police responded to the report of a runaway 6-year-old in the 5100 block of NE 63rd Terrace at 9:23 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13. The temperature was about 6 degrees at that time. The boy’s parents said they had looked everywhere for him and that he must have left on foot 40 minutes before officers’ arrival. A neighbor even thought their doorbell camera had captured video of him walking outside.
Because of the extreme cold temperatures, KCPD convened numerous resources for an extensive search effort. This included Missouri Search and Rescue Canines, KCPD drones, the KCPD helicopter and deputies/officers/troopers/agents from the Clay and Jackson County Sheriff’s offices, Northmoor Police Department, Gladstone Department of Public Safety, Missouri Highway Patrol, the FBI and firefighters with the Kansas City Fire Department. The group set up a command post at a church at NE 57th and N. Brighton. Multitudes of volunteers came out to join the search, including the principal and staff of Ravenwood Elementary School.
The team searched for five hours. At 2:41 a.m., they discovered the boy had been safe and warm the whole time. They found he had crawled into the box springs of his parents’ mattress and fallen asleep.