PORTLAND, Oregon — A 5-year-old boy who went missing for several hours with an unknown woman on Friday has been found, thanks to a Portland woman who had been called in earlier than usual to work.
Police responded to reports of a missing child on Thursday around 8 p.m. in the area of Southeast 151st Avenue and Southeast Stark Street.
Officers determined the boy had left his home around 2:30 p.m. with an unknown woman. He and the woman, identified as 31-year-old LeeAnne N. Osborne, were seen around 5:30 p.m. at a gas station near Southeast 148th Avenue and Southeast Stark Street.
Then, at 7:25 p.m., they boarded a TriMet bus headed for Southeast 162nd Avenue and Southeast Division Street, PPB said. The two were then spotted walking in the area of Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast Division Street shortly afterward.
But they may not have been located when they did without the help of a good Samaritan. Before 7 a.m. on Friday, Cheyenne Stallsworth, who lives around the area, called 911 and reported having seen the boy and Osborne in Southeast Portland.
Stallsworth said if it weren't for her boss calling her into work early, she probably wouldn't have spotted them.
Before going to bed the previous night, she'd seen a Facebook article about the missing child on a news site. In the morning, as her mom was giving her ride to work, Stallsworth saw a white woman with dirty blonde hair bending over, pulling the boy in a wagon.
"He turned his head, like looking like a 'Where am I?' kind of look; he looked shaken up — that's what made me call the cops," Stallsworth recalled.
Stallsworth said the boy was wearing a long black hoodie down to his feet and a beanie covering his face.
"The only thing I saw was eyebrows and chin," she said. "For me, being a mother, I thought that was kind of odd."
After she called the non-emergency line, police called her back soon after to tell her it was the missing boy.
"I was at work, and I started tearing up," she told KGW. "It was just scary. I didn't know it was him for sure ... it was by the grace of God, because I wasn't supposed to be at work until 7:30, and this all happened at 6:30."
The boy was taken into protective custody by police, while Osborne was detained for questioning. Osborne was then arrested and lodged at the Multnomah County Detention Center and faces a charge of second-degree kidnapping, PPB said.
"I will sleep good tonight knowing that he's safe," Stallsworth said. "I'm really shocked no one else saw him."
Police are still investigating. Anyone with information can contact Detective Brian Sims at brian.sims@police.portlandoregon.gov or call (503) 823-2079 and reference case number 24-108685.
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