Michael Joseph Vaughan: 'Endangered person' alert for Idaho boy, 5, missing for 2 days
FRUITLAND, IDAHO: Police are looking for a missing boy in Idaho, who they believe may be endangered. Identified as Michael Joseph Vaughan, the 5-year-old boy was last seen on Tuesday, July 27, near his house in Fruitland. Although circumstances surrounding the boy's disappearance are yet to be revealed, police claim the boy was on foot the last time he was seen. It's also not clear who the boy was with at the time of his disappearance.
Idaho State Police has since issued an Endangered Missing Person alert, along with a massive search where investigators are working with multiple other agencies, using several vehicles, drones, and helicopters. “The Fruitland Police Department would like to extend a sincere thanks to all of our partner first responders and our community for taking the time to help us thoroughly search the area,” Fruitland Chief of Police JD Huff told the press, adding: “I am asking citizen searchers to stay out of the area until the professional search crews are finished.”
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Vaughan is described as a white juvenile male, who is 3 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 50 pounds. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, and was last seen in a blue ‘Minecraft’ shirt, dark blue shorts or underwear, and sandals. The boy, who answers to the nickname 'Monkey', was last seen in the area of SW 9th and Arizona in Fruitland on Tuesday around 6.30 pm. Search for him began just an hour later, and saw local cops involve the local fire department, EMS agencies, a St. Luke's chopper, and several local residents. Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue have also been busy making a "very thorough search of the entire search area" with their tracking K-9, Huff said.
“Cornfields are being gone through row by row, inch by inch right now,” Huff updated the outlet Argus Observer on the morning of Wednesday, July 28. Authorities haven't searched the rivers yet “due to a low probability,” but they are looking into ditches and canals. The Payette County Sheriff’s Office used multiple Code Red alerts on Tuesday night to alert local residents of the missing boy.
Payette County Sheriff Andy Creech tokd the outlet: “The initial alert was sent to the neighborhood where the child lives, and then the area was expanded to include Fruitland, Payette, and New Plymouth. There were four separate alerts sent out. Citizens can sign up for Code Red through the Payette County Website.” An initial Facebook post made by the police department was also shared 1000 times. “Our drone pilots responded to the area and helped search the area by air,” Creech told the outlet, adding: “Our drone has a high-quality video camera and infrared camera.”
All initial searches have unfortunately been unsuccessful. Anybody with information has been asked to contact Payette County Sheriff’s Office at 208-642-6006 or call 911.