Missing Youth Returned Home After Search

A 10-year-old boy who ran away from his Chesterfield home Tuesday morning returned before noon.

Lt. Steven Lewis, spokesman for the Chesterfield Police Department, said that officers were called at 8:35 a.m. Tuesday to the 13300 block of Bragstadt Drive to look for the boy. Lewis said he had left his home following an argument with his mother.

The St. Louis County Police Department's helicopter and canine unit assisted in the search, Lewis said. Calling in the helicopter and the dogs is standard practice when a child is missing.

About six or seven officers fanned out through the area, not far from the intersection of Woods Mill Road and Olive Boulevard, to search for the boy. But they didn't find him.

"We kind of moved away after checking the area and not finding him," Lewis said. 

Then, the boy returned home on his own. Lewis said he had been hiding in the area and watching the search. He was likely worried he would be in trouble, Lewis said.

The boy had returned home, safe and sound, by 11:30 a.m., Lewis said.