Missing Boy Found

By Jeffrey Smith, News On 6

SAND SPRINGS, OK -- An eight-year-old Sand Springs boy was reunited with his parents 11 hours after he was reported missing.  Both the Sand Springs and Tulsa police departments were involved in the all-day search.

The boy was found in midtown Tulsa, more than 12 miles from his home.

Eight-year-old Jason Costes woke up early, put on his favorite pair of sneakers and ran away from home. It was a long journey for Jason and an unbearable wait for his dad.

"I woke up this morning around 6:30. I usually wake everybody up for school, and he was gone," said Anthony Costes.

That's how Anthony Costes' day began.

Costes was asked what goes through your mind as a father, when you go to your son's room, and he's gone.

"Pure shock, just pure shock," said Costes.

Sand Springs police phoned every house in a one-mile radius, about 4,000 residences. Then they went on a house-by-house search looking for Jason. Detectives knocked on one neighbor's door at 7 a.m.

"You usually think of teenagers running away, you don't think of eight-year-olds running away, especially at six o'clock in the morning," said Shawna Starkey.

But that's exactly what Jason did. Police say he walked to the trails, and then kept on walking.

Tips started coming in from Tulsa so Tulsa police joined the search.

"We're real good at knowing the river parks trails, cause we're avid cyclists, and so he knows the trails. It's just something that he's gotten that far," said Costes.

He was spotted at a Supercuts store in midtown, 12 miles from his home.  

"How can you be angry at your kid, your son, after he's been missing for so long. So no, I'm not angry at him, I'm just happy he's back," said Costes.

The News On 6 got dozens of comments from viewers asking why an Amber Alert wasn't issued. Police say they need to know for sure that an abduction has taken place and in this case there was no sign of forcible entry or abduction.

One officer says that the department did request an Amber Alert early in the morning, but the request was denied.