CHICKASHA, Okla. — A 12-year-old Oklahoma boy whose disappearance prompted a massive search has been found safe just days after his mother and stepfather were arrested on suspicion of child abuse, authorities said.<\/p>\n
“After days of searching, after hope and prayer, we can say that the outcome that we were all hoping for has come true,” Hunter McKee, spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
McKee said the boy was found on Sunday in Caddo County, Oklahoma, near the town of Cement.<\/p>\n
Investigators did not comment on the circumstances of how the child ended up in the area where he was found.<\/p>\n
The child was given a medical examination, but authorities said he’s in “pretty good shape” and was in “good spirits” when he was located.<\/p>\n
McKee said hundreds of people volunteered to help search for the boy, and that he was located around noon local time by members of the United Cajun Navy, a local volunteer search-and-rescue group.<\/p>\n
The child was last seen Jan. 2 in Chickasha, which is about 24 miles from where he was found, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.<\/p>\n
The Chickasha Police Department had issued an endangered missing advisory for the boy.<\/p>\n
The child’s mother, Kimberly Cole, and his stepfather, George Cole, were taken into custody on Wednesday on child abuse, child sexual abuse and conspiracy complaints, according to OSBI.<\/p>\n
“During the conversation with them, it was learned that there was apparent harm done to this child while he was living with these two parents,” McKee said at a news conference on Thursday to announce the arrests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McKee said police also executed search warrants before the couple was arrested.<\/p>\n
\u00a0McKee said the child’s mother and stepfather remain in custody at the Caddo County Jail. He said the local district attorney plans to move forward with the charges against the parents.<\/p>\n
The boy was placed in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to work closely with DHS to make sure that [the boy] is put into a safe home, which he deserves,” McKee said.<\/p>\n
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman, Vanessa Navarrete and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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