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Boy missing, found twice in one week

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An 11-year-old non-speaking autistic boy who was reported missing twice in one week was returned home again thanks to an emergency alert system, officials said.

AlertOC, an emergency notification system that residents can sign up for, sent out messages to Huntington Beach residents twice in the last week when the boy was reported missing.

“This was an unfortunate coincidence involving the same special-needs child in a one-week period,” said Lt. Russell Reinhart in an e-mail when asked if the boy was being properly supervised. “Both times, AlertOC was successful, but we have no indication nor do we expect this to be an ongoing issue.”

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The boy was reported missing near Magnolia Street and Indianapolis Avenue at 8:15 p.m. Monday. He was last seen riding his Razor scooter in the area.

Police searched for the boy for about two hours before they put out a notification on AlertOC asking for residents’ assistance.

One resident went out looking for the boy after receiving a call from the system and found him at 10:55 p.m. at Talbert Avenue and Magnolia Street in Fountain Valley, almost three miles from home.

The boy was also reported missing July 27 from his home in the 20700 block of Hopetown Lane about 4:15 p.m. while riding his bike around the neighborhood.

He was found about two hours later by a resident near Springdale Street and Slater Avenue, 6.5 miles away from his home, after an alert was issued, officials said.

To sign-up for AlertOC go to https://bos.ocgov.com/alertoc/alertoc.asp.

— Britney Barnes

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