By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Claremont Police are searching for the whereabouts of what appeared to be a boy of about a 10-years-old wearing only short-sleeved Spider-Man pajamas and no shoes on Hanover Street Sunday night. As of 10 a.m. on Monday, the department has not received any reports from parents about a missing child and are concerned for his wellbeing.
Chief Brent Wilmot said that the department received calls of a report of the child walking along Hanover Street at about 10 p.m. on Sunday. A responding officer located the child but he took off running into the woods between Hanover and Elm Streets before the officer could make an interaction.
“They went off looking for him but couldn’t find him,” Wilmot said. “We used K-9, we used a drone with thermal imagining, and we used reverse 911 calls. Basically we made a phone call to residents in the area. We’ve also put a social media message out and have gone door to door to see if anyone’s child was missing.”
Wilmot said all these efforts came up “unremarkable,” and on Tuesday morning the child had yet to be found and nobody reported a child missing. He is hoping that the child may have snuck out and made it back inside his home unsuspected, but only wearing pajamas and no shoes in a cold November night is concerning.
“Our hope is that he made it home safely and his parents are just none the wiser,” Wilmot said.
Wilmot said the department received multiple calls about seeing the child in the street, and he was also observed on surveillance video from a local resident. He was seen just north of Dunning Street near Elmwood Nursing Home.
“They saw him between 10 and 11, and officers were out looking until about three in the morning,” Wilmot said. “The drone had thermal imaging and officers were out there doing a line search.”
Wilmot said the K-9 unit did not pick up on a scent. At 10 a.m. on Monday, Wilmot said the department was still actively looking for the child. They are checking with the school resource officer and other resources to see if anyone can identify the child.
“The hope would be that the mother or father becomes aware that this happened and lets us know that their kid was wearing Spider-Man pajamas, and found them this morning wet, and that they might have had a late-night escapade,” Wilmot said. “The other thing is kids don’t have school this week, so it is a little more of a challenge.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Claremont Police Department at 603-542-9538.
