15-year-old missing Spring Valley boy found safe

A 15-year-old boy missing on Tuesday was found safe early Wednesday morning, according to a news release from the Spring Valley Police Department.

Police said they received a call at 7 a.m., from the boy’s mother advising the child had been located around 1 a.m. at a friend’s house and believed he would be attending school.

Officers located the boy at school and the parents were notified of his whereabouts and safe welfare and he was taken out of the missing person’s database.

According to the news release, the boy left his residence in the 400 block of West Minnesota Street and gave indications he may be a harm to himself.

Police searched areas he was known to spend time in and entered him into the state and national databases as “missing/endangered.”

Police said they found the boy near a residence on Sunset Drive in Spring Valley by tracing his cellphone, but he fled into the wooded area west of that location.

A search team was put together and drones, UTVs, several tracking dogs, and people on foot were utilized to locate the boy in the large, wooded area, according to the news release.

The Spring Valley Police Department utilized our Code Red System for residents’ assistance.

Police said they were able to make contact with the juvenile who advised he was at a residence, but would not disclose his location. Indications were the boy was at least safe and not exposed to the elements.

Further phone pings throughout the night were futile in locating the boy’s location, according to the news release.

The search team was then called off due to the undisclosed location, but Spring Valley Police officers continued to search for the him throughout the evening and early morning hours.