Team,

As most of you know, I have the privilege of servicing the Project Live Saver client on Quantico.  He's a 5-year old non-verbal autistic child.  Today was the day of the month I was to service his PLS transmitter and planned to do that later in the day.  At 0730 this morning, I got a call from his mother.  When I looked at my phone and saw that it was her, I thought that maybe she wanted me to come early due to family plans or something.  When I answered the phone, she was absolutely frantic.  Her son was missing. 

I tried to calm her down over the phone to assess the situation.  She told me that at 0330 this morning, the whole family loaded into the car so they could drop her husband off for work.  They all returned home and the other kids went back to bed.  Mother and son sat together on the couch and dozed off.  She awoke around 0715 and couldn't find the boy.  She and the other kids combed through the house calling for him.  She noticed that the front door was ajar.  Over the last couple of months, her son has learned to open the front door and has been known to go outside and head for the nearby woods.  The mother quickly called 911 and then called me. 

After re-assuring her that I was on my way, I called the Sheriffs Office dispatch and asked them to contact the deputy in charge of Proect Life Saver.  Five minutes later, he called me and I filled him in.  I quickly dressed and was out the door to drive the 2 miles to the family’s residence.  I checked the outside temperature and saw that it was 26 degrees.  When I arrived at 0755, the Quantico Fire and Rescue squad and several Quantico Marine Corps police cruisers were already on site.  They already had personnel combing the neighborhood and wooded area near the house.  Neighbors were also searching.  After speaking with (and once again re-assuring) the mother that we were going to find her son and that the PLS deputy was on his way with the PLS receiver, I did a quick once-around the house to get a lay of the land.  I walked into the garage, which was full of stored household goods and started looking there.  While looking, the boy’s 6-year old sister ran to me and said that she had found him.  I asked her to show me and she led me to the living room.  On the couch where his mother had last seen him while they were dozing, the girl pulled the large pillow off and snuggled in the corner under the pillow was her brother, fast asleep. 

I told her to stay with him and went outside to report the rescue squad personnel parked in the street.  They began to get the word out.  Right then, the mother walked up from the back of the wooded area.  I told her that her son had been found and was safe in the house on the couch.  She broke down and asked me if I was kidding her.  Of course, I said no and led her inside to see him.     

The Marine Corps Police MP in charge on site took a full report from the mother and me.  He had not heard of PLS so I gave him a quick brief.  I took his contact information to pass onto the Stafford Sheriff’s Office so he could get a more thorough brief on PLS.  He expressed interest in getting a receiver for use on base.  After the police and rescue squad left, I went ahead and serviced the boy’s transmitter.  Just as I finished, the Stafford Sheriff’s deputy arrived and we all discussed the situation.  One of the things the deputy suggested was installing a dead bolt on the front door that the child couldn't reach.  I wish I'd thought of that.  The mother said she would speak to the housing office about it. 

Here's what I learned from this:  when a child is reported missing, ask them to show you to the exact place where the child was last seen (Point Last Seen - PLS) and look there first.  Don't take anyone’s word for it if you are told that they already looked there.  And once you've checked it, check it again.  Then and only then expand the search.  We all thought the worst and started looking in the nearby woods.  That's not necessarily a bad thing as long as you have enough people, especially given the low temperatures outside and what that would mean to a 5-year old in his pajamas.  But I should have checked the couch myself.  We had rescue squad and police personnel as well as concerned neighbors searching for the boy, but he was found by his 6-year old sister who heard a sound coming from underneath the pillows on the couch and decided to check it out. 

It was a good outcome to a potential disaster.

Regards.