HPD Press Release – Wednesday April 4, 2018
On April 3, 2018 around 10:30 p.m., officers with the Henderson Police Department responded to a call of a missing 13 year old teenager. According to the grandmother, the teen has autism and this was the first time he had left the residence. She told officers the teen had become upset over a video game.
At this point the teen had been missing a short time, but the grandmother told officers the teen would need medication within the hour and if he did not receive the medication soon he would likely fall asleep. The grandmother told officers that he does like going to the store and that he loves trains. She feared that he may have gone to the railroad tracks nearby.
Officers concentrated on the immediate area and gave out a description of the teen in an attempt to locate. Other officers started the process of entering the teen as missing in NCIC and an AMBER alert.
The supervisor on scene discussed the use of the Department’s multipurpose K-9 unit to track the teen. Officers felt that if the teen was not located soon he could be in grave danger from missing his medication and the conditions.
A pillow was used as a scent article for the K-9 to start the track of the juvenile. The K-9 was deployed using short leash from the front of the teenager’s home. Officer searched several areas immediately around the residence and repeatedly called out for the teen. The K-9 handler advised that he had located the teen.
He was found approximately 30 feet from the rear of the residence in a thorn brush thicket in an area that officers and family members had already searched, where there was almost zero visibility.
The teen did receive injures from the K-9 and from the vegetation that he was hiding in and was treated medically for his injuries. The injuries sustained were unfortunate, but we are extremely relieved that he was located and returned to his loving family.
Authority: Chief M.W. Barrow