An interesting day in the neighborhood

Last night, before I left work, I heard the police helicopter circling the park across the street.
They were describing a lost boy, aged 4.

I looked it up online last night but didn't see anything about it.

Around noon today, another helicopter was hovering over the same area.
"Oh, no," I thought. Perhaps something bad had happened to the child.

But it ended up being a completely unrelated crime investigation.
An anonymous tip reported a person may be buried in a backyard, from 30 years ago.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/police-723930-years-detectives.html

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Cadaver-Dog-Sniffs-for-Bones-After-Tipster-Calls-Police-388601602.html

Just a block away from the same park.

Meanwhile, the boy had been returned safely to his family after Good Samaritans recognized him.
They found him with a man at a store a few blocks away.

http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/183049607-story

I am really proud of the community members who took action.
I didn't recognize the man accused of kidnapping, but I put an  article with photo up in the office so that people could see.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/boy-723956-nunez-santa.html

Earlier this summer, a child was molested in the same park bathroom, but the suspect got away.
Hopefully, they caught the person responsible.

Just before I closed the office at 9, a lady came in looking for her daughter.
The girl was supposed to be with the youth group, and they were supposed to be finished at 8:30.
The mother was afraid the girl had walked home alone.

I got a bad feeling and started calling the youth group leaders.
Luckily, the girl hadn't gone missing at all.
The youth group had been watching a movie in a classroom and it ran late.

The mother was in tears, and once she found her daughter, she felt a little silly about it.
She didn't even know about the lost kid from yesterday, so I told her and her other 2 kids with her, and let her know it was OK to be extra cautious.