An off-duty policeman managed to locate a runaway, 9-year-old who had gone missing eight hours earlier on the 7th after having an argument with his mother.

The Policía-Nacional officer, using his own motorbike, was not alone in his search for the missing child because numerous group of neighbours had also joined the search.

The boy ran away from his home in the higher part of Albaicín where his mother had a second-home and where they had spent the Christmas period. It’s not known what the argument was about but the boy just ran out the door without a coat. The mother was sure that he hadn’t gone far and would soon return because of the rain, fog and cold, but after two hours, she started to panic.

She called friends, acquaintances and neighbours to find out if he had turned up there but to no avail. The news spread around the barrio via a social-media platform and before long 50 people, amongst them the policeman, scoured the barrio (San Miguel Alto) and immediate area. They searched the last reported place where he had been spotted, which was within an hour of running off.

It was at 20.30h with the night well set in that the police officer on his bike tracked the young boy down, who was showing signs of hypothermia and being disorientated.

The off-duty officer contacted the police units that were also participating in the search and a patrol car took the child to the local police station where the mother was waiting. The boy was returned to his mother after a brief medical check up.

Editorial note: this took place before the winter storm Filomena hit, so although it was cold and wet, it was not as cold as it is up there today, for example. But even so, it was cold enough.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)