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HAYWARD — Police referred an 8-year-old boy who went missing overnight and his family to the department's social services division after determining that no crime occurred and the boy simply did not want to go home.
Police said the incident began Tuesday afternoon when the third-grader got into minor trouble at Treeview Elementary School and was sent to the principal's office.
His mother arrived to pick him up about 1 p.m. but the boy wasn't there. She spent about three hours searching for her son before calling police.
An official search was launched, and the boy was spotted about 8:15 p.m. playing basketball with classmates on Rivercrest Avenue in Hayward, about two miles from his home. But he
Hayward police brought in about 30 additional people to help search for the boy, and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department sent deputies.
"We take missing juveniles very seriously, especially at that age," said Hayward police Sgt. Keith Stiver, who added the search included street canvassing, officers going door to door, and "checking every possible direction and every kid he goes to school with."
A teacher finally found him about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday near where the boy had been playing basketball, police said.
"His story is that he was just wandering around all night," Stiver said. "We don't find that very credible."
The boy told investigators he got lost.
"When
The department's Youth and Family Services Bureau had a meeting with the family Wednesday. They had no previous problems, and Stiver said the concerns stem from ongoing problems the boy has with his siblings.
"In anything like this, our biggest concern is how to resolve the tensions within the family that got us here," Stiver said.
