St. Paul Boy Found After Going Missing For More Than 24 Hours
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Authorities in St. Paul said a 9-year-old boy has been found after going missing Wednesday evening.
The St. Paul Police Department said the boy disappeared after fishing at Beaver Lake. He was supposed to be home at 7 p.m., but never made it. He was last seen earlier that afternoon.
Around 10 p.m. Thursday, nearly 24 hours after the boy was reported missing by the police, he was found safe. As of 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the boy's mother was still waiting to see him.
He was found not too far from his own home, near the intersection of Maryland Avenue E. and McKnight Road north. This was also near a vacant home, where a yellow van was sitting outside.
WCCO had reporters on the scene as police searched the van. They also searched a freezer that was in the driveway, and removed some items from it.
It is unclear where exactly the boy was found, and what connection the van has to the case.
WCCO spoke to a neighbor who said the woman who lived in the home passed away in May, and the home has been empty since.
She said it wasn't uncommon for family to stop by the house, but she had never seen that yellow van there before.
At first she thought someone had just broken into the home.
"I was sitting next to my window watching TV and I heard a car door slam. I usually look out to see who is coming. All of a sudden, two police cars pulled up, no sirens or anything but the lights were flashing, and the next thing I knew there were 12 police cars," the neighborhood
She said the boy was alert and talking to police as they put him in the backseat of the car, she said he was asking for his mom.
His mother did text WCCO's Jennifer Mayerle late Thursday night and said she still hadn't been able to see him. She said he was taken to a hospital to be checked out and would then go to a foster home.
His mother said he has done this before. Just last week, he disappeared and his parents found him in the woods near the lake the following morning. However, his parents said he had never been gone this long.
Police say they are still trying to piece all of this together.
