With help from GPS technology and the power of social media, a seven-year-old boy was found unharmed after he went missing in Kowloon, Hong Kong on Tuesday.
At 6pm, the boy’s father surnamed Tse placed an urgent post on Facebook, seeking help from people to help locate his missing son in Ngau Tau Kok, news website HK01.com reported.
Tse said his son and carer/domestic worker were at a playground near the family home in Ngau Tau Kok when the boy suddenly ran away.
The domestic worker chased after him all the way to Kowloon Bay MTR Station but failed to catch him.
When the boy’s parents received the news, they immediately placed a report with the police and posted a message on Facebook, asking people to be on the lookout for their son.
It is understood that the boy had a GPS device with him which showed that he might have been in Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories.
Members of the public in Tseung Kwan O helped mount a search for the boy when they read the post.
Finally, with the assistance of more than ten locals alerted by the Facebook post, the boy was found in a fast food shop in Tiu Keng Leng.
Tse immediately went to the shop and picked up his son. The boy was safe and unhurt.
Tse said his son is autistic, and had gone missing twice before. He expressed his gratitude for help received from local citizens and the Hong Kong police during the search.
A friend had suggested that he should buy a GPS device to help locate his son if he went missing again.