JOLIET -- Using a police dog, Joliet police officers searched an East Side neighborhood for 7-year-old boy who was dropped off in front of his house by a school bus driver Thursday afternoon, but was missing when parents came home.
The boy is a student at Marshall Elementary School and was dropped off in the 1000 block of Gardner around 3:45 p.m. His parents reported him missing at 5:27 p.m. Police searched for the boy in backyards, Nowell Park and in wooden areas for about an hour. Sgt. Gregory Jordan coordinated the search with about eight officers that included looking for relatives and friends.
"We don't fool around. We go right into action," Lt. Gregg Glomb said.
While police were searching, the parents received a call from their neighbor who had their son. She saw him waiting outside for an hour so she took him to her class at Silver Cross Hospital, Glomb said.
"She didn't think of calling us," Glomb said.
"The neighbor told the officers that he looked cold. He was shivering so she took him. It was a good ending," said Glomb, adding it was 39 degrees outside at the time.
Glomb said parents should come up with a secondary plan with their children to get them into the house.
