Missing Juvenile located with help from social media

On today's date at 2:11 p.m. members of the Middleton Police received a call of a missing autistic six year old child from the Hampshire Shores Development.

Officers from the Wakefield Police as well as Milton Police responded to assist us in the search.  The Strafford County Bloodhound, Jasper and his handler, Sgt. Kerkensen  were also requested to respond. 

 We also communicated with the State Police SERT team, a specialized mobile team of the NH State Police who specialize in missing person searches.  Had a K-9 search failed, the team would have been activated 

Members of the Department turned to their social media tools and sent out a emergency alert over the Middleton Police Mobile App requesting members of the community to keep an eye out for the child.  Our social media tools allowed us to send a photograph of the child.  Within a short period of time, our community members immediately started sharing the posts which reached thousands of viewers.

At 2:52 P.M. a teenage resident of the Butler Ave area saw the young child in a wooded area behind her residence.  She immediately notified the police.  The child was located safely 7 minutes after that sighting in a wooded area.  He was evaluated by Middleton EMS and returned safely to his parents.

The successful return of the child was a direct result of the cooperative efforts of our law enforcement partners.  Most importantly we are greatly appreciative for our loyal and dedicated community members who kept a diligent watch and answered our call for help from the community.  That effort is what makes Middleton a great town and in this case, returned a missing child in a short period of time. 

The actions of the child are a cause and effect of his illness.  During the past we have attempted to attach a gps tracking device to the child however he has removed them.  We are currently speaking with Town Management and hope to have a fundraiser in the near future hosted by the Middleton Police Association  that will allow us to purchase the necessary tracking equipment for the child that can be suited to his needs.  I will post this effort in an upcoming blog.

Thanks again to all that answered our call for help.  Without your efforts our job would be more tedious.