My seven year old went missing yesterday (Read 582 times)

It was terrifying.Our house backs on to a park with a playground and Jake goes down there to play with his friends all the time. We have strict rules - he doesn't leave the park, he comes home if teenagers turn up or anyone he doesn't know tries to talk to him and he wears a watch and returns when we say. He went to the park with his skooter at about 3:20, immediately after school and I was distracted discussing architect plans with one of the parents from my Playcenter. When John returned from work it was 5:30 and I realized Jake hadn't come back. That was weird because he is always hungry and usually comes back for snacks. Then I looked out the window and saw it was raining. He never stays at the park in the rain. My husband ran over to get him but the park was empty. We didn't know what to do. We paid a visit to the families of the two children that he plays with but neither had seen him. We visited all the neighbors that also overlook the park but strangely no one had even seen him arrive at the park and one neighbor had been sat on his veranda watching the play area for at least an hour but Jake hadn't been there. That really frightened me. We decided to call the police and they asked us to send out search parties and to print off photos for them to use in looking for Jake. It all felt so surreal. The neighbors were fantastic though. By 6:30, when he had been missing for three hours several of the local families were searching on foot and my husband and a friend were driving around looking too. I was so upset. I couldn't speak because I was sobbing so much. Eventually at 7PM my husband spotted him walking down a road with a boy and Jake says he found a new friend and went to his house to play. I could have killed him. Instead we resorted to lots of cuddles and I decided to save most of the lecture for today. When he got home in the car with John , Jake wouldn't look at me. He pulled his hood over his face and kept shouting 'Daddy's mad at me.' Oh dear. I was so relieved to have my son back! Claire xxx

Wow...yeah, it would have been tough trying to decide to ground him for life, or never stop hugging him. I'm glad it all turned out okay. I have tears in my eyes just thinking of what you went through! As a parent we know we'd sooner die for our children then to have something horrible happen to them and I'm sure during the time he was missing your mind went to places and happenings you'd rather not think of. I had one moment of scare years back, my (now 12) 6 year old was dropped off at the wrong bus stop. That was one of the scariest hours of being a parent that I had experienced (topped by a couple emergency room visits!). Turned out that where he got dropped off FINALLY a parent of another child saw him standing there (outside of her house like 40 minutes later) and with the help of her daughter they got him to stop crying and to tell them his phone number so they could call us and then they brought him home.

Kirsten - I rekon I got four hours sleep at best. Amelie was up on and off all night for what seemed to be no apparent reason! She ended up in our bed but refused to sleep, it was driving me mad. This morning I got up at 5AM for my run and my eyes were swollen from all the crying. It felt like a dream being out there I was so tired. I am definitely going to need a nap this afternoon! As Mother's we never forget those moments of fear when our children's safety is threatened do we! I remember last night sobbing in the arms of a neighbor that I don't really know very well saying 'Why on earth do I let him out the house on his own!' Well I guess that I am lucky - I get a second shot at that call and we have told Jake that no more park trips on his own. He is obviously not old enough to follow the rules. The house that he visited was a few roads away too and he would have had to cross at least one busy road to get there. I know nothing about the family who's house he went to, only that they told Jake they don't have a phone so he couldn't ring us, and that isn't a good indicator for me. Anyhow I am too tired to take the kids to Playcenter today so the place will just have to survive without me. Now if only I can find the phone that Amelie has hidden I could make a phonecall and tell people. I fancy a day in bed cuddling my girls and drinking tea interspersed with bouts on RA and some physical therapy. I feel really emotionally drained after yesterday. To top it all off our immediate neighbors returned from holiday during all the commotion to find out they had been burgled. I felt so bad that we hadn't noticed anything. Claire xxx

Phew! That must have been frightening. I remember when our son was missing in Amsterdam when he was about the same age. We were as desparate then as you have been now. Fortunately he was found by a kind woman who brought him to a police station. When we came there he was having a great time playing with the typewriters... bas

ugh, that put a lump in my throat! how terrifying! I'm so glad it all turned out ok.