Missing Boy Found After Daylong Search In Pottawatomie County, Sheriff Says

Pottawatomie County deputies and volunteer groups found a missing child Monday evening after a nearly 12-hour search. 

Sheriff Mike Booth said the child was found uninjured. The sheriff’s office and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services will care for the child while investigating the runaway incident. 

Laurie Myers, the child’s mother, told News 9 they contacted authorities around 6:50 a.m. Monday after noticing he was missing from their home in the 37000 block of Highway 9.  

“My husband started getting the kids ready for school this morning and he thought (the boy) was on the front porch feeding the cat, and then his little sister said, ‘nope, he ran away,’” she said. 

The search focused on an area near the intersection of Highway 9 and Coker Road where a person reported seeing the child running into nearby woods about 3 p.m.

Deputies used a thermal camera to search through the wooded area, which spanned about 175 acres, Booth said.

Volunteers with Red Dirt Oklahoma Search & Recovery are searching on the ground with tracking dogs. 

One family who knows the boy wanted to help by providing a familiar voice. 

Stacey Trout said her son, Brycen, goes to school with the boy.

After learning of his disappearance, Trout, Brycen, and her husband began driving around to search. Brycen yelled the boy's name near the woods where he was last seen, hoping it would be familiar. 

“Another kid, somebody that is his friend might have a better shot” at finding the boy, Trout said. 

Just after 6 p.m., a civilian found the child on Coker Road, Booth said.