The Case of the Found Child

On Saturday morning I got up early to run and beat the heat. I had a plan to run, do a little other exercise, shower, and go get a grocery pickup order we had placed, all while taking care of the kids so Katie could sleep in. And I did get out and run. But after I got back and was working on the list, our doorbell rang. It wasn't 8:00 yet, so that was a surprise. I thought it was probably a neighbor kid looking for my kids, who weren't awake yet.

At the door was an older man who looked like an aging biker, holding a boy who was maybe 3. He asked if I knew who the kid was. He found the kid wandering down the street with no parents in sight. The boy didn't seem to know how to get home. He had walked up and down the street knocking doors but hadn't found where he belonged. I didn't recognize the boy but pulled up my LDS Tools app that shows all the LDS families in the neighborhood. I went through the list, and he didn't seem to fit with any of the families.

I went and got Katie up. Since she works in the nursery at church there was a chance she would recognize him. No luck. The man took the kid to keep knocking doors and call the police. I hopped in the shower and kept thinking about the situation. When I got out Katie suggested a family we didn't really know but who had a girl around Allison's age, wondering if they had a boy. Allison wasn't sure either. The parents were listed in LDS Tools, but no kids were listed.

But since I had the parents' names I looked them up on Facebook. I eventually found a family photo that showed the boy. I ran outside to see what was going on, and a bunch of police officers were walking around the neighborhood. I approached one and told him I had a pretty good idea where the kid lived. We walked to the house and knocked on the door. No answer. The police kept pounding until a sleepy-looking boy answered.

He said he's nine years old, and his parents both had to work so they left him in charge of the other kids. They asked if he had a phone number where the parents could be reached, but he didn't. At that point the police told me thanks for the help and sent me on my way. I wanted to see the kid brought home (apparently he was being watched at another house down the street), but oh well.

I felt good about using my online sleuthing skills to help solve a mystery. I hope this was just one of those things that happens once and the family is able to adequately for their kids.

Comments

Lori said…
Good job for being a good sleuth!

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