Missing Olympia boys found safe after city-wide search Wednesday. Here’s what happened
Two 11-year-old students who ran away from Hansen Elementary School Wednesday have been located and are safe, but not before police enlisted the city to help find them.
Police posted on social media about 4 p.m. Wednesday, asking the public for help finding Allen Leman and Drake Coop. A 8:52 p.m. update indicated they were found and safe.
The search began at about 1 p.m. after the west Olympia school contacted law enforcement about the runaways, Police Lt. Paul Lower said. Police learned from some students that Leman and Coop had planned to run away, he said.
Officers searched the campus and neighborhood before expanding their search to nearby stores, Capital Mall and even Intercity Transit, he said. Extra staff patrolled the city into the evening until when one of the boys called 911 to report they were lost about 8:30 p.m., Lower said.
Dispatch directed the boys to find a roadway and they were ultimately found just outside a wood line near Kaiser Road Northwest and Goldcrest Drive, roughly 2,000 feet from the school campus.
“Both were in fine condition, no injuries,” Lower said. “They were both a little frightened because they had gotten lost, but other than that, everybody was happy they were back reunited with their families.”
Lower said one of the boys used a cellphone to call 911. However, he said officers did not know the boys had a cellphone Wednesday evening. If they had known, he said they may have been able to track them.
“As best as we can figure out, they hopped over the fence of Hansen (Elementary School), disappeared into the wood line back there and stayed within the wooded areas until eventually they needed help,” Lower said.
Lower said police do not suspect any other people were involved in the boys’ disappearance.
“There’s no crime here,” he said.
A missing person flier described Leman as 5-foot 4-inch white boy with red hair and green eyes, wearing a green and black flannel shirt with jeans. Coop was described as a white boy of the same height with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a black and white hoodie and possibly carrying a backpack.
