Missing child found safe in Curry County

CURRY COUNTY, Ore. – A missing child is now home safe thanks in part to Curry County deputies and a Brookings Police K9.

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday night, a woman was camping with her husband and children in a teepee at an RV park on the south bank of the Chetco River in Brookings.

Just before 3:00 a.m. Friday morning, the woman called police and said her 6-year-old autistic son had slipped out of the tent after the family went to sleep. The woman’s husband had been searching for the boy for over an hour before officers were contacted.

Three Curry County deputies responded to the area and began searching in and around the RV park. They asked the Brookings Police Department to bring in one of their K9 units to aid in the search.

Once Brookings P.D. K9 “Hulk” was on the scene, he tracked the child to a brush-covered area on the opposite side of the road from the park. Hulk lost the scent, but his handler thought he could hear a child crying from that area.

Search and rescue members converged on the location the K9 unit identified. They were able to find the child in that area at about 5:44 a.m.

The 6-year-old was reunited with his father as paramedics responded to make sure he was okay.

“When a child or any person goes missing, we pour every asset we have into finding them,” the sheriff’s office said. “We would like to thank Brookings PD Officer Zane VanZelf and K-9 Hulk for their assistance in helping find the child. We have a great group of SAR members who are dedicated and respond at all hours of the day and night when needed. We are so thankful that we were able to find the child unharmed.”

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