Police video show officers finding child hiding under a stroller who wandered from home
By: -----
Sturgeon, MO - The search for a missing 4-year-old boy in Sturgeon ended at 3:45 a.m. Friday, when the child was found and taken to University Hospital for emergency care, according to a news release by the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
Video released by the Columbia Police Department just after noon on Friday shows officers in what appears to be a residential driveway examining a multi-seat stroller. The seats of the stroller were empty, but there was a bulge noticeable in the canvas undercarriage.
The 59-second video starts with no sound and shows officers searching the stroller, then reaching down trying to find a way to remove the child from the place they are hiding.
When the sound on the body worn camera starts to record, one officer calls out for a knife to cut the child free from underneath the stroller.
Another officer made a radio call, "We have the child."
The video seems to show the officer cutting a strap attaching the canvas undercarriage to the frame of the stroller, then slowing pulling the child out into the open.
The child appears to be wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and pajama pants, but not sock or shoes.
The boy cries a bit, and officers' radios echo out a notice that the child is responsive.
Later confirmed the stroller the boy climbed under was on the porch of a daycare.
The sheriff's department said deputies were told about a man near the 400 block of East Patton Street looking for a missing child just after 11 p.m. Thursday night.
A release from the sheriff's office said deputies determined the child had walked away from home, which started an urgent search because of the cold weather.
Several Sturgeon residents as well as responders from the Boone County Fire Protection District, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Columbia Police Department, the Centralia Police Department and MU Health Care Ambulance Service assisted in the search, according to the release.
The sheriff's office said railroad traffic in the city was suspended as search K9s, drones, a helicopter and thermal imaging were being used at the same time a foot search was underway to find the child.
Ultimately, the child was found near the 100 block of East Francis Street — more than half a mile from where they were last seen, according to the release.
The child was in need of emergency medical care and taken by ambulance to University Hospital, according to the release.
The sheriff's office said there will be limited information provided as to how the child ended up in this situation, since it's under investigation.