Police Locate Mother 8 Hours After Child Found Wandering Alone In Mt. Clemens

MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ) - Authorities have located the mother of a 5-year-old boy hours after he was found alone, wandering down a popular Macomb County road in the middle of the night.

Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said a tip led investigators to the child's mother, who lives in Clinton Township, nearly eight hours after her son was found wandering alone in the area of Gratiot Avenue and Euclid Street in Mount Clemens

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the area around 2 a.m. Saturday after receiving a call from a concerned citizen.

"A citizen was driving on southbound Gratiot and saw a young boy running down the middle of the road," Wickersham told WWJ's Pat Vitale. "He pulled over and cornered the child and then contacted 911."

Both parents have been interviewed. Wickersham said he does not expect charges to be filed and said the parents last saw their son sleeping around 10 p.m. on Friday.

"He is completely safe and that is probably the best part about this whole situation," Wickersham said. "This could have been very tragic -- he could have been hit by a car or taken. The main part of this story, I guess, is that he is safe."

Deputies arrived on the scene and made contact with the unattended boy, who investigators initially thought was about 4-years-old.

"They tried to ascertain what the child's name was, where he might live... but this young child is not communicating with any of the officers," Wickersham said.

The boy was brought back to the sheriff's office and Wickersham contacted Child Protective Services.

"They sent a caseworker in and again tried to question him, tried to find out information of where he might live or even his name, and we're not getting any of that from this young man right now," he said. "There's no verbal communication going back and forth with the child. We really don't know what's going on with him. He's scared and confused."

Wickersham said the situation has left his office scratching their heads.

"The first part is to identify who he is and find out where his parents are and figure out what was he doing out in the middle of the road at 2 a.m.," he said. "We're also concerned on the other part, did something happen to the parents, you know, where ever he came from. What's going on in that family situation?"