Missing Redmond boy, 7, found safe after overnight search

Police: Mentally disabled child had run away from care facility

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 7-year-old Redmond boy who ran away from a care facility late Sunday night was found safe and unhurt early Monday, ending an extensive, nearly six-hour search using K-9 teams, drones and an emergency phone and text alert to area residents, police said.

Around 11:45 p.m., police responded to a residence in the 2900 block of NW 19th Street on a report of a missing juvenile, Capt, Devin Lewis said. The report indicated the mentally disabled child had run away from the facility around 11:35 p.m.

Police responded and began searching the area, assisted by Deschutes County sheriff's deputies, Bend police and Oregon State Police.

A short time later, Deschutes County's emergency alert system was used to send information on the missing boy to phones within a two-mile radius as part of the effort to find him, Lewis said.

The alert, also sent as a text, indicated the boy was wearing gray and blue pajamas and a blue jacket. Residents were urged to check their home's exterior and home surveillance cameras, such as Ring doorbells, and to call dispatch with any information

Around 5:20 a.m., nearly six hours after the boy was reported missing, he was found safe and uninjured in the area of Northwest Spruce Avenue and 19th Street, Lewis said. He was picked up by police and returned to the care facility.

Lewis said he could not provide more details, but said Redmond police want to thank the other law enforcement agencies, Deschutes County Sheriff's Search and Rescue and Redmond citizens for their help in looking for and finding the missing child.