MISSING CHILD: Man Finds Lost Boy

A missing child case in West Des Moines came to a quick end this morning.  Police say a little boy was found wandering alone in the middle of the night.

Ann Nguyen was driving home after working the graveyard shift when something caught his eye.

“This [9-year-old] kid is walking on the side of the road,” says Nguyen.

Near the corner of Ashworth Road and 50th Street, he saw a small boy walking barefoot, looking scared and clutching his Woody doll from the movie “Toy Story.”  A brand new dad himself, Nguyen knew he had to stop and call police.

“If I was his parents, I would want him to be safe,” he says.

West Des Moines police say the boy’s father put him to bed around 8PM Monday evening.  Sometime during the night, the child managed to get out of the house.

“Every time I got close, he just walked faster and started jogging off.  I didn`t want him to run off into some random yard so I just kind of stayed away.  He didn`t mind me following with the car,” says Nguyen.

It turns out the 9-year-old boy has a medical condition that prevented him from communicating with Nguyen and police.  When the boy`s father woke up and found him missing, he called 911 and was reunited with his son.  In a written statement, West Des Moines Police commend Nguyen saying “the longer the little boy was wandering around by himself, the more potential existed for something bad to happen to him.”

“I`m glad I`m the one that found him,” says Nguyen.

Police say the family has locks on the door that normally keep the boy from getting out of the house.  This morning, his father believes he managed to open the sliding back door.  The child is back home and police say the case is closed.