When 10-year-old Paul Ezekial Fagan went missing from his grandmother’s front yard in Florida on Thursday afternoon, his family feared the worst.
After searching for four hours before calling the police and widened the net with the help of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities began an overnight search with the help of sniffer dogs and helicopters, but efforts were hampered due to a rainstorm in the area.
The next morning, a news conference was called to let the media know about the missing boy and to appeal for help in finding him safe and well. Reporter Cameron Polom was on the ground by 7am, on duty for WFTS-TV. Shortly after seven he walked through the boy’s neighbourhood with a cameraman when he spotted a tired looking boy in muddy clothes climbing out of some bushes in a nearby yard.
Twenty-nine-year-old Polom called out to the boy and asked for his name. When he confirmed his suspicions, he picked the boy up over the fence and walked him to the sheriff’s deputies nearby.
Speaking to TODAY.com, Cameron said: “He’s looking at me and I’m thinking, ‘Could this possibly be this kid? Is this really happening?’ It was a very surreal moment.”
“There was a sense of relief from everybody there, all the journalists, all the investigators. And seeing the family respond the way they did, it was awesome,” he said.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Paul had wandered around overnight and was not injured or hurt in anyway. Paul later told Polom that he wanted “some space” from his younger brother, but feared getting in trouble when he returned home.
Paul said he wanted “some space” from his younger brother
