Raul Johnson Gonzalez missing: FBI joins search for boy who vanished barefoot

LAURINBURG, N.C. -- A North Carolina family is passing out posters and offering up prayers as they await word on a 4-year-old boy who disappeared from his home earlier this week. The FBI announced on Friday that it is assisting in the search for Raul Johnson Gonzalez.

Authorities in Scotland County said the boy left his home on Wednesday while his grandfather was babysitting him. The home is about 2,000 feet from the South Carolina line.

Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey told local news outlets that when Raul left his house, he was barefoot and dressed only in pajamas. Kersey said he went to a neighbor's house. The neighbor spoke with the child and told him to go home. That was the last time she saw the child.

Authorities have issued an AMBER alert and officials were draining a pond about 800 yards away from the boy's home on Friday, reports CBS affiliate WNCN.

The child has reportedly wandered off before. The 4-year-old's mother, Annie Johnson, told the station she was at work when her father called her Wednesday morning and told her Raul went missing.

"I told him to call 911," she said with tears in her eyes. "I thought maybe he was just hiding because he likes to hide, but he never stays gone this long he always comes back. If I holler for him he comes back and this time he didn't come back."

Kersey told the station the disappearance is being investigated as a missing persons case, but that investigators haven't ruled out any possible scenarios.

"There is nothing we have found with interviews with family members, next door neighbors or information from the public that would indicate foul play," Kersey said.

Kersey urged anyone with information to come forward.

"Information from folks is critical," he said. "If he didn't wander off, then someone out there knows something."

Tipsters can call the Scotland County Sheriff`s Office at (910) 276-3385.