A lost-child story with happy ending

DECATUR — A two-year old boy gave his baby-sitter and police a scare when he seemed to disappear from his home at the Hidden Springs apartments on Monday.

Thankfully the story had a happy ending when the boy’s brothers found him sleeping behind a chair under a pile of blankets and stuffed animals in his bedroom.

According to police chief Terry Luker, Decatur police searched for the boy for about 40 minutes, with the help of the Decatur Fire Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office, the Gentry Police Department, the Gravette Police Department and the Sulphur Springs Police Department, as well as personnel from the Decatur water and street departments.

The child’s baby-sitter called police when she couldn’t find him, Luker said. She told police that she hadn’t heard him go outside and that the boy was tired. Luker said he helped the babysitter search the apartment looking under beds, in closets, behind couches, in the dryer and every other place they could imagine.

When they couldn’t find the boy, Luker called for assistance. People began to knock on doors, question neighbors and search nearby fields. Police became more alarmed when a neighbor reported seeing the boy walking unsupervised through the parking lot 30 minutes earlier.

The toddler’s older brothers finally found him asleep in his bedroom. The child had pulled a chair up to the window and then feel asleep, sliding behind and under the chair. Covered by blankets and stuffed animals, the boy was completely hidden, Luker said.

“Just the way the chair was sitting, you would have never known (he was there). We were in the room searching and making all kinds of noise, but he never woke up,” Luker said. “He was cute ... He was sleeping so good I just left him alone (after he was located).”