Young boy found wandering alone on busy Empire Avenue

A young boy was found wandering Empire Avenue and Desert Sage Street alone on Wednesday morning.

Nearby residents said someone in a passing car called police. No adults were with him and police said he is between the ages of 3 and 4 years old.

Police went door to door, asking people if they recognized the boy or knew where he lived. Eventually, police were able to reunite him with his caregivers.

“We need to make sure we have all the facts,” said police Lt. Clint Burleigh. “We don’t say, ‘Oh, this is a caregiver, so we are going to handle it differently.’ We have a found child, so let’s find the family, the caregiver, or whoever the responsible person is and reunite them.”

NewsChannel 21’s Jessie Foster spoke with the caregivers, who declined to be on camera or have their names released.

They did tell her the boy has a disability and would sometimes hide in the house to get away from noise and people. They said they thought he might be hiding and that he has never wandered from the house before.

One of the caregivers said she immediately called the police after they had searched inside and around the house. They had no idea he had wandered so far.

Burleigh said, “In the summertime, you can turn your back for just a couple minutes, and if your child walks away, sometimes it’s difficult to find where they’re at. I think it’s happened to a lot of people.”

Traffic did slow for the child, and according to the caregivers, he is safe with his mother.