Local authorities put social media and a reverse-911 system to work Thursday after a 3-year-old boy was found running down a Rose Village street.
Five Vancouver Police Department officers responded at 12:51 p.m. after the boy was taken by a bystander to Washington Elementary School, 2908 S. St.
Emergency dispatchers with Clark Regional Emergency Services alerted its followers on Twitter to a blog posting that described the child and asked anyone with information to call 911. The tweet was picked up by local media and retweeted to their followers.
The agency also made 2,700 reverse 911 calls trying to reach the parents, according to VPD Sgt. Mike Knotts.
After those efforts failed to turn up a parent or guardian, officers turned the child over to Child Protective Services.
“This isn’t terribly unusual,” Knotts said. He predicted a frantic call will come soon from the parents. “He’s safe and sound.”
That call came about 4:15 p.m. from a mother said she’d discovered her child missing from the home. She provided a description that matched the description of the toddler who was located earlier.
VPD spokeswoman Kim Kapp said the department is in contact with the parent, and CPS officials will also meet with the parent regarding the incident.
“The Vancouver Police Department would like to thank the media and the public for getting information about this incident out,” Kapp said in a press release. “It was instrumental in resolving this situation.”
