Missing boy, 4, found safe

8/16/2011
BLADE STAFF
  • missing-boy-2

    Tyler Wilder, 15, and his younger brother, Atavious Wilder, 4, is returned to their mother, Dawn Wilder, after the pair was brought back to their mother, Dawn Wilder by a police detective. The family lives at the Greenbelt Place Apartments on Cherry Street in North Toledo.

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    • Atavious Wilder, 4, is hugged by his mother Dawn Wilder after the missing boy was returned to her by Sgt. Patrick Skinner. The mother and son live at the Greenbelt Place Apartments on Cherry Street in North Toledo.
    Atavious Wilder, 4, is hugged by his mother Dawn Wilder after the missing boy was returned to her by Sgt. Patrick Skinner. The mother and son live at the Greenbelt Place Apartments on Cherry Street in North Toledo.
    Tyler Wilder, 15, and his younger brother, Atavious Wilder, 4, is returned to their mother, Dawn Wilder, after the pair was brought back to their mother, Dawn Wilder by a police detective. The family lives at the Greenbelt Place Apartments on Cherry Street in North Toledo.
    Tyler Wilder, 15, and his younger brother, Atavious Wilder, 4, is returned to their mother, Dawn Wilder, after the pair was brought back to their mother, Dawn Wilder by a police detective. The family lives at the Greenbelt Place Apartments on Cherry Street in North Toledo.

    There was a happy reunion outside a Greenbelt Place apartment just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when a 4-year-old boy, who had been missing for several hours, was reunited with his mother.

    Atavious Wilder was reported missing about 1:20 p.m. Tuesday by his mother, Dawn Wilder, when the boy did not return home after attending a lunch program.

    Ms. Wilder was outwardly calm, saying she was telling herself that Atavious, the youngest of her five children, was safe with her son, Tyler Wilder, 15, and her boyfriend, Letaurao Walker, 26.

    “But you never know, there are sick people out there,” she said before her son was returned.

    When Toledo police Sgt. Patrick Skinner pulled up in an unmarked white police car, a neighbor inside Ms. Wilder’s apartment said, “The sergeant is back!” and the mother ran outside, picking up her son.

    When Ms. Wilder touched her son’s face, he reached over and touched hers. Ms. Wilder began to cry as she hugged her son.

    The sergeant said they found Atavious and Tyler in the 200 block of Austin Street where the family used to live.

    Ms. Wilder shook hands with the sergeant and smiled.

    “I am just so...,” she said, her voice trailing off. She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. “Just so happy.”