Boy, 4, reported missing in Oak Park found safe after mom forgot him in car: SDPD
A four-year-old boy is back home after police said she forgot him in her car outside their Oak Park apartment.
Vylisha Russell had returned with her two youngest children Friday night, about 10 p.m., after taking them trick-or-treating for Halloween. That’s when Russell took her daughter Lily, 3, inside their apartment, and investigators said the mother fell asleep forgetting her son was still secured in his car seat in the parking lot.
“We’re still trying to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and exactly what the time delay was,” Anthony Carrasco with San Diego Police told reporters after the boy was found later.
Carrasco said the mother didn’t call 911until she woke up and realized the boy was missing from the SUV, along with his car seat, almost seven hours later, at about 5:20 a.m. Saturday.
Police immediately called for help from volunteers with the Southwest Search Dogs organization and members of the tactical drone team to search for the boy.
Investigators found the boy safe and unharmed just before 11 a.m. Saturday at a relative’s home nearby. They said the relative found him alone in the car and took him to their home for the night, leaving a note on the family’s front door explaining what they’d done.
Child abuse detectives have also joined the investigation calling the case a ‘suspicious incident’Officer Anthony Carrasco, San Diego Police
The mother did not find the note, but her young daughter did. The girl was coloring on the note and practically destroyed it by the time they realized what had happened.
Although the four-year-old boy was found, police said their investigation will continue into all of the circumstances and will include a review by the county’s child protective services. Late Saturday, Officer Carrasco said, “Child abuse detectives have also joined the investigation, calling the case a ‘suspicious incident’.”
No arrests have been made in the case.
