Sacramento Police Say 'at Risk' Missing Child Has Been Found

The police department in Sacramento, California, said an at risk child reported missing on April 7 was "safely located" and "returned home to the family."

The Context

The California state capital's law enforcement asked for the community's assistance in helping to locate 12-year-old David Parker, whom it deemed to be at risk because of his age. In 2023, almost 3,000 children were reported missing in Sacramento County, data from the California Department of Justice showed. The vast majority were runaways, and most were returned or located alive. There has been an annual decrease in the number of missing children reports in Sacramento County since 2018, when roughly 8,000 reports were recorded.

Across the whole state of California, 66,705 children were reported missing last year, around 63,000 of which were runaways. This was an increase on 2022, and broke a downward trend that began after 2019, when there more than 70,000 missing children reports.

Runaways were the most common type of report, with abductions by strangers and catastrophes, such as a natural disaster, accounted for very few of the report types. Twenty-two children were reported to have been abducted by a stranger in 2023.

More girls (36,525) than boys (30,180) were reported missing in California last year, a gender divide that has been consistent for the last five years.

"Some 460,000 children go missing from the United States every year," Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon said in 2023. The OJP website states that many people who go missing "are found alive and well."

There are currently 24,358 open missing persons cases in the United States, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which is run by the OJP. Nearly 3,500 of those are in California.

What We Know

David was last seen near the 7900 block of Deer Lake Drive in the Meadowview neighborhood, located in the south of the city. He is described as having a thin build, short hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans at the time of his disappearance, the police said.

Views

The Sacramento Police Department's Facebook post alerting the public to David's disappearance had been shared more than 200 times at the time of writing. Many of the comments on the post were people sharing the praying hands emoji. One person wrote "prayers for his safe return home."

Newsweek initially emailed the Sacramento Police Department for comment outside business hours, and we published without waiting for a response. A spokesman later replied to confirm David had been found.

What's Next

A Sacramento Police Department spokesperson told Newsweek in an email that David was back with his family.

Update, 4/8/24, 10:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Sacramento Police Department and to reflect the fact that David Parker was found safe.