PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — A collaboration between police departments and the community led to the safe recovery of a missing 13-year-old boy with autism, who was found wandering in a wooded area after an hour-long search.
The Port St. Lucie Police Department said that the search began at 4:21 p.m. when the Fort Pierce Police Department received a report of a missing child in the 2700 block of US Highway 1.
After initial searches by multiple officers, surveillance footage showed the boy walking toward a nearby neighborhood on Grand Club Place.
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Fort Pierce police then requested assistance from the Port St. Lucie Police Department’s K-9 unit around 6 p.m., while their Drone Unit began sweeping the area.
Officials said that K-9 Officer Burdick and his bloodhound, Hoot, tracked the boy’s scent straight to a wooded area next to a railroad track. Meanwhile, the Fort Pierce Police Department’s Drone Unit illuminated the area and spotted the missing child.
A collaboration between police departments and the community led to the safe recovery of a missing 13-year-old boy with autism, who was found wandering in a wooded area after an hour-long search. (PSLPD)
Thanks to the teamwork between the two police departments, the boy was safely located and reunited with his family.