Juvenile reported missing Tuesday found safe after multi-agency effort

Thursday evening, February 10, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement regarding the search for a 13-year-old juvenile reported as missing by his legal guardian. The story has a happy ending as the child was found safe after over a day of intensive efforts by multiple agencies. See the report on the recovery effort in its entirety below:

On Tuesday, February 08, 2022, at approximately 7:56 PM, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from the guardian of a 13-year male juvenile indicating the boy had left the house thirty minutes before and she could not locate him. Deputies responding to the single-family home located upon the 2500 block of Stonewall Jackson Highway, Front Royal, Virginia checked the home and surrounding area without success.

Additional WCSO deputies arrived to aid in the search, including Deputy C. Anderson and his canine partner Rooster. The track for the missing boy led to the river’s edge on Route 340 and Indian Hollow at the boat landing. At this point, the Warren County Fire and Rescue Services (WCFR) were requested, and personnel arrived with water rescue equipment and boats in the event they might be needed.

The coordinated search was expanded quickly to include additional WCSO, WCFR and Virginia State Police personnel. This was due to the age of the child, darkness, terrain and cold weather. By 08:22 PM, requests for air rotary assistance were made to expedite the search. The ground search using K-9 dogs proceeded methodically and deputies searched surrounding buildings, river’s edge, wooded area and along the Norfolk Southern train line. The Andy Guest State Park and other remote areas were also searched. An emergency “be on the lookout for” broadcast was issued to surrounding agencies, to include the Town of Front Royal.

At 09:25 PM, the incident commander, WCSO Lt. S. Collins authorized the 911 Center to initiate a RAVE Alert, which generated an automated message to surrounding residents to be on the lookout for the missing child, and report information to the Sheriff’s Office.

During this time period, another 911 call was received from a homeowner on the 8000 block of Stonewall Jackson Highway, approximately five miles away from the missing child’s residence. The caller advised a person similar to the description of the missing juvenile had knocked on her door asking for water. Deputies responded to that location, and extended their ground and air search. Due to the increased geography and challenges of the topography, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) was contacted and deployed members of their Search and Rescue Teams.

Volunteer SAR members arrived throughout the early morning hours to join the tireless search for the juvenile. Social Media was used to inform the public and enlist their assistance if they had pertinent information. By daylight, public school bus operations were picking up children for the day. At the request of the Sheriff’s Office, the Warren County Public Schools initiated a radio broadcast to all bus drivers to be on the look out for the missing juvenile.

Later on, the morning of February 10, 2022, the missing juvenile was located by members of the inter-agency search team near the county waste disposal facility, was medically checked by the WCFR and released at the scene to the Sheriff’s Office. The minor was taken into protective custody and transported to the Warren Memorial Hospital for continuing care, and the Department of Social Services was notified by Sheriff’s Office Investigator. The juvenile was the reunited with his family.