Tacoma, Wa — For nearly 12 hours, no one in Tacoma knew where 8-year-old Jaylon Green was. Then at about 7 a.m. Saturday, he returned home to be greeted by Tacoma Police officers who had been looking for him all night.
"He was cold and wet and happy to be home, I think," said Loretta Cool, Public Information Officer for Tacoma Police.
Green was last seen leaving the Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound on South 66th Street in Tacoma at 7 p.m. Friday. A surveillance camera caught him as he walked away. He was supposed to wait for one of his parents to pick him up, but he walked home instead.
Cool says when he got home, no one was there.
"Basically, he spent a long night outside because he was afraid," Cool said. "He wasn't supposed to walk home."
The Amber Alert that was issued to find him sent shockwaves through this South Tacoma community.
"That had me scared last night, that helicopter looking for that poor boy," said Laronda Jackson.
Her 7 year old daughter, Jalayah, goes to the Boys & Girls Club, too.
"She takes the school bus (there) every day," Jackson said. "And we pick her up. Yes, I do. Just to be safe."
Jalayah said she would be afraid to leave the club alone. "Little kids can't check out by themselves," she added.
Boys & Girls Club officials declined to talk to speak on camera Saturday, but spokeswoman Teri Tingvall Moore said in an email they are looking into what happened as part of their ''continuous safety procedures."
KIRO
