A four-year-old boy who has autism snuck out of an open window while in his babysitter’s care earlier this month and was rescued by Webster police on the bank of a nearby river.
The babysitter called 911 at 12:44 p.m., on Jan. 13, and told dispatchers at the South Worcester County Communications Center the boy, who was only wearing a diaper, had been missing for several minutes.
Recognizing people with autism are often drawn to water, the Webster Police Department’s entire day shift that Saturday — Officers Jon Brooks, Robert Rockwood, and Patrick Trainor — rushed to the French River, which is steps from the apartment he had left. Meanwhile, the boy’s father called and confirmed the home is near the river and his son likes water.
Within four minutes of the 911 call, an officer communicated by radio he had located the child.
“We got him, we got him, we got him! At the river,” he said.
“They went down there, and one of the officers actually located the child on the edge of the river, with his feet actually inside the water,” said Webster Police Chief Michael Shaw. “This could have been tragic, very easily could’ve been a tragic ending.”