State alert issued for 9-year-old Seminole County boy

WEWOKA, Okla. (AP) _ Authorities have searched 2,500 acres around a missing boy's home and questioned all his relatives but have failed to find any sign of the 9-year-old since he disappeared about

Sunday, April 23rd 2006, 11:28 am

By: News On 6

WEWOKA, Okla. (AP) _ Authorities have searched 2,500 acres around a missing boy's home and questioned all his relatives but have failed to find any sign of the 9-year-old since he disappeared about 1 p.m. Thursday.

``We've had search dogs, aircraft, helicopters, four-wheelers, OHP (Oklahoma Highway Patrol) divers that check all the ponds and stuff, but that's really about all we have,'' Seminole County Undersheriff Hugh Doty said Monday. ``He's still a missing child, and we're doing all we can to locate him.''

Colton Levi Clark's backpack is gone, so authorities think he could be a runaway. Since there is no evidence he was abducted, he doesn't meet the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert, which allows authorities to post a missing child's information on highway bulletin boards.

Instead, an Oklahoma Missing Child Alert has been issued. This will ensure that flyers with the photo and description of the boy are e-mailed and distributed statewide and within 200 miles of the state.

Authorities also are searching for a ``vehicle of interest'' that was seen near the boy's home, where he last was seen Thursday. Doty described it as a 2003 gold GMC extended cab, long-bed pickup, with tinted windows, a black bumper and an Oklahoma tag.

Meanwhile, law enforcement authorities are fielding tips from the public.

``My phone hasn't shut down hardly at all,'' Doty said. ``I've been out on two or three different calls last night and they were possible sightings by Eufaula Lake and a lady called me from Texas.

Colton is a white, 4-feet-4, 65 pounds, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He last was seen wearing silver eyeglasses, Wrangler blue jeans, a light blue shirt and white and blue tennis shoes.