A 12-year-old boy from Oklahoma who had been reported missing has been located safely, ending days of concern and a large-scale search effort, authorities confirmed.
The update comes shortly after the child’s mother and stepfather were taken into custody amid an ongoing investigation into alleged child abuse, a development that had heightened fears about the boy’s welfare.
“After days of searching, after hope and prayer, we can say that the outcome that we were all hoping for has come true,” Hunter McKee, as per the spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
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Providing an update on the search, McKee said the boy was located Sunday in Caddo County, Oklahoma, near the town of Cement. Investigators declined to discuss how the child came to be in that area, saying the circumstances remain under review.
After he was found, the boy was taken for a medical evaluation. Authorities said he is in “pretty good shape” and was in “good spirits” at the time he was located.
McKee also highlighted the scale of the community response, noting that hundreds of volunteers joined the search effort. The boy was found around noon local time by members of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer search-and-rescue group that assisted local authorities.
Authorities said the boy was last seen on Jan. 2 in Chickasha, Oklahoma, roughly 24 miles from the area where he was ultimately found, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. After he went missing, the Chickasha Police Department issued an endangered missing advisory as concern for his safety grew.
As the investigation unfolded, the child’s mother, Kimberly Cole, and stepfather, George Cole, were arrested Wednesday. OSBI said the two are facing complaints that include child abuse, child sexual abuse, and conspiracy.
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“During the conversation with them, it was learned that there was apparent harm done to this child while he was living with these two parents,” McKee told at a news conference on Thursday to announce the arrests.
McKee said investigators carried out search warrants as part of the probe before the couple was taken into custody. He added that the child’s mother and stepfather remain jailed at the Caddo County Jail, and that the local district attorney intends to proceed with the charges against them.
Following his recovery, the boy was placed under the care of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
“We’re going to work closely with DHS to make sure that [the boy] is put into a safe home, which he deserves,” McKee mentioned.