The family of a 13-year-old boy with autism who was missing for about four hours Friday afternoon and evening thanked the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department for finding him by delivering cupcakes to the staff Monday.
Sheriff Matt Myers, who found the boy walking at about 7:45 p.m. in the 2400 block of Home Ave. on Friday night, said although the thank-you gift was not necessary, the family’s kindness was appreciated.
Agustine Ordonez, also known as Junior, was wearing an ankle bracelet that could be used to locate him, but officers speculated its battery was low which prevented them from being able to pinpoint a location.
Myers, who was at the sheriff’s department Friday after business hours, was listening to the police scanner when he heard a mention of Donner Park, and decided to drive around that area in Columbus on his way home.
He went around the park and down California Street, and eventually began a sort of grid search going up and down neighborhood streets looking for Junior. It was dark by the time he saw a boy with a backpack walking on a sidewalk along Home and pulled up beside him, calling out “Hey Junior,” to which the boy replied, “Yeah.”
Ordonez told Myers he had missed the bus at Central Middle School near downtown Columbus and had walked to Donner Park and Taco Bell before being spotted by the sheriff.
The Ordonez family also provided a thank-you card to Myers and the department along with a stack of cupcakes.
