A Mendenhall River Community School student wasn‘t on the campus when a parent arrived to pick him up, sparking a search Monday that ended almost three hours later when the 7-year-old was located.
Just before 6:30 p.m., a citizen called JPD and reported locating the missing child near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Long Run Drive. JPD officers contacted the child and confirmed that he was fine. The child was returned to his parent.
Police were called at approximately 3:32 p.m., and police said the initial investigation indicated that the child left the school on a school bus.
Approximately seven officers assisted in looking for the child. Participating agencies included the Juneau Police Department, Alaska State Troopers, U.S. Forest Service and the Juneau Sea Dogs, police said in a prepared release.
Comments (39)
Add commenthere's a heartfelt thanks from the parent of a 6-yr-old
to the officers, the agencies, and the citizens involved in searching for and finding this child.
Missing News
I was disappointed that the Empire did not bother reporting that the boy was missing. No mention of what was going on until he was found. This was very critical news in our community.
I agree with alaskangrrl
This was flying all over facebook, but like alaskangrrl said, there was nothing in the JE. This kind of info is critical to the safe return of any child- or anybody for that matter, and should get out to the public quickly. Pics would be nice too! On FB people were sending out messages telling people to contact the police ASAP if they see him, but people who have never met the child wouldn't know if they have seen him or not.
@alaskangrrl
It was indeed a critical story. As soon as a staffer heard about the search, an entry was posted on our Facebook page. When we learned the boy was found we updated the Facebook page, removing the old entry. When the police issued a press release after the boy was found we moved the news item as quickly as we could.
This is not a case of "not bothering" to print the news, but of wanting to get the story right. Two of your recent posts have been critical of the Empire — the previous one, I believe, about a December AP story appearing on a mobile app. Feel free to call me at 523-2265 if there are deeper issues you wish to discuss. We strive to get the news online as quickly as we can and do the best jobs we can, but when we don't meet your expectations we like to hear about it.
I'm glad the little dude was
I'm glad the little dude was found!
Yay!
I'm glad they found the little fella safe. Good work!
Assume
I assume there is nothing to be concerned about and this was either a miscommunication or a child just being a child?
Glad he is home safe and sound. Hug your kids everyone (even if they are adults!).
Pretty frightening
Given the recent events of some creep trying to lure children near schools into his van.
He was supposed to be at
He was supposed to be at rally and wasnt. Didnt they loose rally at Mendenhall river last year for losing two kids? Seems they havent learned...
Was cool that he was found. It a scary place to lose a kid. They are either at school, on Riverside or Back loop, or they are in the woods next to a very swift cold river...
kpawsuh
"Police were called at approximately 3:32 p.m., and police said the initial investigation indicated that the child left the school on a school bus."
When children who are "supposed to be" at Rally, leave the school on a bus, how is that Rally's fault? Let's be happy that he was found safe.
Last year my son was a
Last year my son was a Kindergartener at MRCS, and on the first day of school he got on a bus when he was not suppose to. We had told his teacher and the school that he was a "pick-up" we also told him that we would pick him up after school. But as an excited 5 year old on his first day of school he followed a friend on the bus. No teacher checked this. Thankfully his dad was able to chase down the bus. I made a comment to the school after that scary incident about students (especially young ones) that ride the bus should be checked by their teachers before getting into the bus line.
The school he now goes to (we moved out of state) checks the students that are in line for the bus, to make sure they are "bus" students. The students also have a tag on their back-packs that state what bus they ride. This measure was started several years ago when a student went missing after getting on the wrong bus. The school also makes sure that the students being picked up are picked up by the right person. The school does not let students get into a car without asking the child if they know the person and who the person is. Yes it takes more time and more staff, but the staff have recognize the importance of the childrens safety.
JNUKara + John Moses
JNUKara, when a child is supposed to be at Rally they DO NOT leave on buses without the schools knowledge and parents permission. Yes it is Rallys fault when one goes missing. This has happened before with Rally. Either not enough staff or not enough staff that get off the desk chair.
Either way, the school and Rally is repsponsible for the safety of the children until they are with a parent or other approved guardian. Years ago I had to show id to pickup my granddaughter, then it went down to her simply saying Grandpa, she saw me walking up and came outside to leave. I'd have to take her inside to sign her out. No one knew as far as staff was concerned. And this was all at Medenhall River.
John Moses, I hope Akgirl calls you to get her concerns addressed but dont wait by the phone. Its so much easier to anoymously do things these days without having to accept responsibility.
Absolutely Coco! This young
Absolutely Coco! This young man was supposed to go to rally. I do not personally know what the protocol is as I home school, but I would assume that they do not trust that a 7 yr old will walk from his classroom to rally without getting distracted. Do the teachers know which students go to rally and have them line up after class and walk them down there? Does a rally rep collect them from their classes? Do the bus drivers have a list of approved kids that are supposed to be on their bus? I would expect middle schoolers and above to be able to take care of themselves, but a 7 yr old boy is distracted easily! The school and rally should have some sort of protocol to insure that the twerps get to where they are supposed to without getting lost/distracted. They may have those protocols, but in this case, either there was no protocol or it failed miserably. Either way, this needs to be looked into!
Parents
So quick to point fingers and fault others. Parents it is your duty to help educate your "twerp" as KP likes to call them on what he/she is spose to do after class. Parents have just as much responibility as a teacher does. Name calling and program bashing does nothing to help except show how vindictive and holier than thou ppl like Kpawsuh are. Speaking of....KP you stated your kids are in home school and do not attend Rally. Seems to be the only reason your posting is to bad mouth others from your lofty high horse position, Heres an idea for you....STFU for once.
Wow
I live in the neighborhood of the missing/now found boy. I was blown away to see the neighborhood completely open up last night to help look for this little boy. It was amazing and made me proud to live here. I watched as people left their homes, geared up, and with their spotlights and flashlights, leaving their lives and comforts, to frantically look for this little boy. In my own efforts, I continually passed the same several people searching by car too. I could hear the boy's name being called out from every angle. Not to mention, the other blocks, not my own, who stepped out of their homes and opened their hearts to look. Last night, I witnessed a town come together for one child. It reminded me of the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." Even though there's a lot more to that saying, it absolutely applied to this case. The people of the community instantly became a family last night and it was spectacular to be a witness of such love and devotion. Thank you to all that helped.
"Facebook Reporting"? Seriously?
Since when is "breaking news" reported on Facebook?
The Empire's webpage is where people should be able to find critical information regarding incidents like this one.
Style, (an oxymoron for sure)
Style, (an oxymoron for sure) My family was out helping look. Was yours? Also, he is part of my extended family. I have a vested interest in his safety. And yes, at 7 they are all twerps. And I am vindictive and holier than though? I have no vested interest in this, other than it affecting my relatives. My kids dont go to rally. From a selfish view, I could care less. Doesnt affect me. However, I am asking the questions to see what went wrong. How can we fix this? This isnt the first time Mendenhall river rally has lost a kid. The rally program was shutdown last time and they bussed the kids to riverbend. Obviously there are some issues. Should we just be happy he is safe and then forget about it? What happen if the next kid decides to go play next to the river and falls in? Seems this has just given you an opportunity to be selfish and ignorant...
easily goated
KP you have good valid points....but you missed mine as always.
PS...Dont forget to click your own like button!
kpawsuh
I don't generally side with kpawsuh, but I do on this. When your kid is dropped off at school you expect them to be their to pick up or on the bus as previously determined. While, yes the kid should do as they are supposed to, but who really thinks a 5 - 7 year old has the where-with-all to do that consistently? That is why there should be practices, procedures, and barriers to them making errors.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right.
Oh, and AKstyle. You loose the high ground when you dive into the trenches. I found you post more distasteful that Kpawsuh.
AKStyle
Yes, us as parents should be reminding our kids what they are doing after school.... I did do that!, but again at that time my kid was 5 and saw his buddy get on the bus so he wanted on the bus too. When his dad asked his teacher where he was, she stated "ohh he got on the bus.....is he not suppose to?" the school was not concerned at all, and like I said thankfully his dad chased down the bus. That resulted in a frustrating phone call to the school, but nothing more was done. I know Juneau is a small town and I did feel safe living there, but we shouldn't undermine the safety of kids and predators, just because "that kind of thing doesn't happen here" The school needs to step up and make sure our kids (especially young ones) are going on the right bus or picked up by the right person. MRCS lets a mass amount of parents in the foyer to pick up their kids. Now this is better than kids running all around the parking lot without their parents, but with all the kaos in that foyer/lobby area with kids and parents, anybody can walk out with any child..
AKstyle- What do the members
AKstyle- What do the members of the genus capra have to do with this discussion? And when did they become a verb? To be "easily goated". Or did you mean goaded?
funding
A lack of it causes major problems when staff are streched to the max.
KP I appoligize for coming off so harsh on you. It just irks me when I see finger pointing and the Rally program bashed. If they had more funding scary situations like this could be much more easily avoided.
ps attack my typos too. sheesh there is no end to your BS.
Edit*
If Rally could raise the pittence they offer for wages maybe it would help retain quality employees instead of unreliable teenagers who do not have our childrens saftey as priority # 1.
Is it going to take a tragedy...
before this is addressed?
http://juneauempire.com/local/2011-10-12/jsd-investigates-after-school-p...
Lots of blaming school staff
without any mention of what the child had to say about why they left. You have no idea if anyone asked him anything or what his response may have been. Many Rally kids are desperate for attention and it's not easy to focus on everyone every minute of the day.
Amazing how people expect others to do a better job than they could ever do themselves. One boy out of hundreds got on a bus at a school. Shocker! The staff should obviously all be fired.
Newsflash-school and the freebie Rally are not prisons. Good people work there but they can't be omnipresent and all-knowing. There are loads of times kids are absent from school or go to school but not Rally for many reasons.
If you want airtight security for your child why don't you care for your children yourselves or pay for a service to do so for you?
"without any mention of what
"without any mention of what the child had to say about why they left. You have no idea if anyone asked him anything or what his response may have been."
There is nothing that a 7 year old should be able to say to convince the school or rally that they should be free to go on a bus. The system should not depend on the judgement or training of a 7-year old.
One boy out of hundreds is no big deal? It was quite dark and cold at 6:30 last night.
He just got on a bus. No one
He just got on a bus. No one in the school asked or said anything.And you must not know anything about Rally to call it a freeby! Its freaking expensive!
I saw the story on the JE FB
I saw the story on the JE FB page.
Rally
a freebie. Maybe the state pays it for you using my tax dollars but I wrote a check every month to pay for it.
Teenagers, perhaps, I dont deal with them anymore but it was adults when I was going there. Some couldn't be bothered with getting off the desk chair to check anything.
As mentioned my granddaughter would run outside when I walked up. Leaving the room her age group was in. I would take her back in, pick up the clipboard and take it to the clueless attendant to sign it in front of her then replace it where it was.
Funding, the scape goat excuse everytime. They get paid from the state or the family hundreds of dollars a month (almost as much as the daycare for the younger one charged for all day) for a couple of hours.
As far as what they pay the emplyees, from what I see they pay what they are worth. They make enough to hire repsonsible adults Where's the extra mony go. Now that could be a question worth publisizing.(sic)
No, I do not forsake my responsibility. But I, nor you, sit in class all day holding your childs hand while at school or rally. (you have to work to afford it) the school is the one who shirks responsiblity. Let your kid hold up a sign off campus they dont like and they'll take responsibility and ruin a childs life. But this, no, its the parents fault.
Get real.
Bus/Rally
This report leaves me wondering where the boy was found (I heard rumors on FB that he was found at a friend's house) which makes me wonder, if that is true, where were the friend's parents? Why didn't they contact the boy's parents when their child came home with a friend?
Was the child supposed to be in RALLY and leave to get on an activity bus? If so, that is not the first time a mistake like this has happened in the schools...yet, why isn't there an Activity Bus "pass" RALLY kids must have or an after school activity "passenger list" that is checked each day?
Maybe RALLY should have a policy to do roll call just before the activity bus leaves each day...
It seems to me, it would make sense to figure out where exactly the break-down in safeguards failed and to put in place a change in the system to insure it won't happen again (or at least would be far less likely we have another scare like this with the confusion that can occur between after-school activities, care and transportation for kids).
amber alert!!!!!
Not everyone has the internet.
I do not have a Facebook nor do I want one or feel like I have to get one just to get news updates. I do listen to the news, watch TV and read the Juneau empire on line.