Missing Boy Caught Playing Hooky from School by News Helicopter: 'First Time We've Seen Something Like This'
Mar. 15, 2025The NYPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
An NYPD alert had noted that the child had been wearing an orange tie when he had gone off to school in the morning — a detail that tipped off Rice.
“I looked down at my notes. I see what the assignment desk had sent me, and I see what the child was wearing. I look back at the child, and that child was wearing everything that’s in the description. He looked to be about 9 years old," Rice told the station.
Rice then called the NYPD, who eventually made their way up on the roof and confirmed that it was indeed the child reported missing earlier in the day.
Police confirmed to the outlets that the boy was eventually reunited with his mother.
Rice noted that the incident was “the first time we’ve seen something like this happen,” adding that he was glad “to be able to find that child for the parents down in that building. It was a really gratifying experience.”
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“There’s a swinging bench up there, sort of. The kid was sitting on the bench playing on his iPad,” the neighbor said. “I thought his parents gave him permission to go up there. I didn’t even think, ‘Why would the kid be up there?’ It’s a community place.”
source: people.com
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