Missing Child Case - Best Outcome!

[marinepilot]

So last night about 2300 I get dispatched to a Signal 8 (Missing Person). Dispatch advises that the missing person is a 3 year old girl wearing a pink Dora shirt, black pants, and no shoes, and that the parent believes the child just walked out the door. Time lapse, about 5 minutes.

Parent did the right thing, asked all the neighbors and called us. When I pull into the complex, there had to be 30 to 40 people already out looking around, calling the girls name. Meanwhile, I've got all other units circulating and a K-9 on the way. I make contact with the parent, get a little more detailed description and put out the BOLO. Get the parents information, and then I say "Let's look through your apartment." Parent replies that had been done, but I come back with "Yes, but when you look for your child and they aren't where you think they should be, you start to get anxious and scared and you could overlook things. Always good to have another set of eyes look again."

Walk into the apartment, start my search in the living room. Not behind the curtains or in the closet or behind the TV. I look at the couch and see it's pulled away from the wall just about enough to let a 3 year old hide, and as I'm walking over towards the gap, my flashlight goes over a couple of pillows out of place on the couch. Beneath the pillows I see pink fabric! Move the pillows and discover the missing child, sleeping soundly on the living room couch! YAY!

Finally got parent's attention, at which point, parent comes over and bear hugs me for almost 2 minutes! Finally remind the parent they should be hugging the CHILD and not me, and then I'm able to get on the radio and cancel all the other units searching as the child has been located!

I love it when a case turns out good! Didn't even have to write a report on it!

[retdetsgt]

Yep. That's the first thing our radio tells a parent to do when they call in on a missing child. It initially pisses them off sometimes, but a whole lot of the time they have found the child before the officer arrives. Kids are great at finding hideyholes to go to sleep in. But it's always scary as hell to begin with.

[kels]

Always love a story with a good ending.

My last one was at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Little one didnt want to take a nap, so she hid in the
dining room under the table.
This table had a shelf in the middle underneath and
the table cloth hit it from view.
She was fast asleep until the fire dept came to help .
Then she comes crawling out to see what is going on.

[Safety Steve]

Great work marinepilot! I love a happy ending.



Be Safe.

[mcsap]

Good ending !

A lot of other times the child is at a neighbors house and the parents simply aren't aware.

[Chaplain Keppy]

Gotta love a happy ending-- you must have been SO relieved!

[DeltaV]

In my experience the missing kids are hiding somewhere in the house about 75% of the time. I remember a case a few years ago where a couple new officers went to one of these calls and didn't do that great of a job searching the house. They didn't find the child, which activated everything from aviation, to reverse 911, to a bloodhound (that didn't end up getting a track of course) in addition to all the units that searched. Units were tied up on the case for hours until the kid decided that he had enough and got out of the clothes hamper to go get dinner. All those wasted resources for nothing.

[MikeG]

Nice! No paper and leave the shift with a smile. Can't imagine it get's much better than that.

Of course, sometimes kids get trapped in high altitude weather balloons so in addition to checking the house, you should always check for local high-altitude weather balloon launches.

[MikeG]

Yep. That's the first thing our radio tells a parent to do when they call in on a missing child. It initially pisses them off sometimes, but a whole lot of the time they have found the child before the officer arrives. Kids are great at finding hideyholes to go to sleep in. But it's always scary as hell to begin with.

And if you live in hot weather climate, check the car. And keep it locked. I think some of the dispatch check procedures changed this summer when they sent a parent back into the house to search for missing 3 y/o. Kid decided to play in the car and the door had child locks so he got in and couldn't get out. Check the pool too.

[retdetsgt]

And if you live in hot weather climate, check the car. And keep it locked. I think some of the dispatch check procedures changed this summer when they sent a parent back into the house to search for missing 3 y/o. Kid decided to play in the car and the door had child locks so he got in and couldn't get out. Check the pool too.

Where I come from, people leave a refrigerator on the front porch for that purpose.

[MikeG]

Where I come from, people leave a refrigerator on the front porch for that purpose.

That's the most dramatic warning I remember as a kid. "Don't play in or on refrigerators!" That and "Don't play with matches!"

I never saw the refrigerator as a particularly fun toy. Matches on the other hand....

[greg72982]

That's the most dramatic warning I remember as a kid. "Don't play in or on refrigerators!" That and "Don't play with matches!"

I never saw the refrigerator as a particularly fun toy. Matches on the other hand....

Good stuff:

§ 6502. Refrigerators and iceboxes.
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of a summary
offense if he discards or abandons in any place accessible to
children any refrigerator or icebox having a capacity of 1.5
cubic feet or more with an attached lid or door, or being the
owner, lessee or manager of any place accessible to children
knowingly permits an abandoned or discarded refrigerator, icebox
or chest to remain there with an attached lid or door.
(b) Effect of violation.--A violation of this section shall
not in itself render a person guilty of manslaughter, assault or
other crime against a person who may suffer death or injury from
entrapment in an icebox or refrigerator.

[retdetsgt]

That's why they started making refrigerators with magnetic latches as opposed to the old mechanical. Kids did use to crawl in them to hide and then suffocated.

But in some parts of the country, your home decor isn't complete without at least one major appliance on the front porch. The bench seat from a truck is also a nice touch along with a variety of auto parts in the yard.

[Pookie44]

Great job!!! :D