Watch: Missing Child With Autism Rescued From Busy Freeway

May 6, 2025

Today's good news story comes from Santee, California.

An 11-year-old non-verbal boy with autism is safe and back with his family thanks to the swift actions of deputies, a dispatcher, and alert community members after he went missing last month.

The dramatic rescue took place on March 9, when the child ran out of a supermarket around 4:30 p.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. His family quickly called 911 after being unable to find him.

Deputies immediately began searching the area with assistance from a sheriff’s helicopter, broadcasting alerts to the public.

Off-duty Sheriff’s Dispatcher Shiloh Corbet was driving home from work around 5:15 p.m. when she spotted a child matching the description of the missing boy near the State Route 52 on-ramp at Mast Boulevard.

Corbet quickly contacted the Sheriff’s Communications Center, pulled over, and followed the child to the shoulder of SR-52, where he had already crossed the westbound lanes and was standing in the center divider. She called out his name to urge him to stay put while notifying dispatch supervisors so they could send deputies to the location.

When deputies arrived, they spotted the boy atop a steep concrete embankment near the freeway overpass. As they attempted to make contact, he moved toward the guardrail and jumped over it, beginning to run along the active freeway.

Deputies Cody Green and Michael Moser reacted instantly—leaping over the guardrail and running after the child. They were able to safely reach him and remove him from the dangerous roadway, ultimately reuniting him with his family. Miraculously, no one was injured during the incident.

“The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office wants to thank Sheriff’s Dispatcher Shiloh Corbet, Deputies Cody Green and Michael Moser, as well as the Santee Sheriff’s Station, Lakeside Sheriff’s Substation, Sheriff’s ASTREA, Sheriff’s Communications Center and several Good Samaritans, for working together to find the missing child and getting him to safety,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.