9-year-old boy found walking along NB I-75

5/22/2014
BLADE STAFF

UPDATE: Youth‘s story of abduction from Tenn. false, Rossford police say, 5/23/14

A 9-year-old boy who said he was abducted from Tennessee was found late today walking along northbound I-75 in Rossford.

Passersby called Rossford police, who spotted the boy around 9:15 p.m. near the Northwood border, Chief Glenn Goss said.

The boy told police that he‘d been pushed out of a car and fell asleep alongside the interstate before he started walking. He didn’t know what type of car he was in, and he couldn’t identify his captors, because they were wearing masks.

He said he was walking home from a friend’s on Tuesday when he was abducted by two masked men. His only apparent injuries were marks on his arms and legs from being pushed out of the car, Chief Goss said. The boy said he was hungry, so police “got him a pizza and a pop, and he‘s talking to the investigator from [Wood County] Children Services.”

“We‘re trying to make sure the boy is safe for the evening,” Chief Goss said. “We have not been able to confirm his story. We have no reason not to believe him, but we have no reason to know it’s factual.”

Chief Goss asked that anyone with information about the boy contact the Rossford police at 419-666-7390.