Wilson said “it has been pretty moving to see the community come together for the search and just the number of special units we had in here, the number of assets and resources and the expertise working here was amazing. We want to express gratitude for that.”
The mother of the missing West Chester Twp. boy with autism was beside herself when she called 911 Wednesday telling the dispatcher, “They can’t find my little boy.”
Despite the dispatcher trying to gather as much information about six-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., the mother could not calm herself as she spoke to the operator as she rushed home in her vehicle from the tri-county area.
At one point during the 2-minute, 30-second call, when words escaped her, though she tried to find them, all she could do was let out a panicked scream.
West Chester Twp. police said Joshua was last seen around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday near his home on Wyndtree Drive in the Lakefront at West Chester apartment complex.
On Thursday, hundreds of people searched around the apartment complex for the missing boy. Their apartment complex is surrounded by a number of ponds, including one right behind their building. Crews from local, regional and state agencies descended onto the area looking for the boy. Two officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources were in a boat searching one of the nearby ponds Thursday morning, and Ohio BCI had a watercraft drone searching another pond.
Police said the boy was last seen near his home when he was dropped off earlier in the day by his bus driver and had been with his adult sister. Joshua’s older brother called 911 and said he didn’t know when he disappeared, telling a 911 dispatcher he had just gotten home. He said this hasn’t happened before.
During a late morning press conference Thursday, fire officials said the goal was to re-canvas areas near where Joshua went missing and further north; groups were formed to search areas in Liberty Twp. and Fairfield as well. West Chester officials said there are eight retention ponds on the property at Wyndtree Drive; two of those were searched Wednesday night in the dark while five more were searched Thursday morning.
Multiple different agencies — including Ohio State Highway Patrol, Texas Equusearch, Buckeye SAR and multiple Cincinnati-area agencies — have responded to help with the search, along with nearly 300 volunteers from the local community, West Chester Police Chief Brian Rebholz said Thursday morning.
They’re bringing in diverse expertise and technical equipment to help, though Rebholz said because of the weather crews have been limited in their ability to use thermal imaging and some forms of air assets. Still, Rebholz said crews have been able to launch drones to aid in the search and plan to continue doing so as long as the weather allows it. Additionally, a helicopter canvassed from the sky.
Crews originally began searching the apartment complex where the boy lived but have since widened their search. They are now searching throughout the northwest parts of West Chester, with officials saying Al-Lateef may have also traveled into Liberty Twp. or Fairfield Twp.
“We’re relying on our citizens and partners to be able to take the picture that we provided and be able to call into our dispatch center if they have information they think is relative to that,” said Randall Hanifen, assistant fire chief.
Neighbor Ekagar Singh, who’s lived in the Lakefront at West Chester complex for nine years, said it’s been stressful for he and his wife since the news of the boy’s disappearance.
“He’s just a kid, and look at the weather. It’s so bad,” he said, adding he had also been searching the neighborhood, in the treeline, in bushes and brush, and every nook and cranny. “Unfortunately, no luck.”
