Missing boys found unharmed

By Adam Tobias of the Daily Times staff
Friday, May 16, 2008 10:42 PM CDT

Two Douglas Elementary School third-graders who were reported missing Friday afternoon were later found unharmed, according to Capt. Tom Killmon of the Watertown Police Department.

Killmon said the two boys, who are both 9 years old, went missing at about 2:30 p.m. after they did not return to their class after recess.

“The two boys came in from recess, went to the rest room and didn't go back to the classroom,” Killmon said.

He added that sometime later school employees started looking for the children and called police at 3:33 p.m. after the school was searched.

At around 4 p.m. the police department activated the A Child is Missing alert and sent out 10 officers to look for the boys, Killmon said. He added the school district was also involved in the search.

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According to the organization's Web site, A Child is Missing is a national non-profit agency that offers free assistance to law enforcement to aid in recovering missing individuals. The organization provides immediate telephone alerts to the surrounding community when a person goes missing.

Killmon said the two young students were found unharmed at about 4:45 p.m. in a shed off of East Spaulding Street by a school district employee.

The two boys were later turned over to their parents, Killmon said.

When a child is reported missing the police department has a strict formula it follows that includes thorough systematic searches, Killmon said.

“We take a look at areas that kids might go to,” Killmon said. “We try to find out where friends and family members live at and places they are familiar with that they might like to play at.

“We try to do a systematic search of an area to eliminate certain areas and stuff and there is a lot of going door-to-door,” he added.