Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
VINEYARD — A 9-year-old boy who was last seen on foot about 3 p.m. on Wednesday in Vineyard was found safe in downtown Salt Lake City about 7:30 p.m., Utah County Sheriff’s officials said.
Authorities received the report that Orson Bergeron was missing about 5 p.m., according to Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon. The boy was found at a TRAX station in Salt Lake City after a concerned citizen thought he "looked out of place," and called Utah Transit Authority police, Cannon said.
“This is citizen awareness at its very finest … the person saw him and thought this just doesn’t look right,” Cannon said. “And it may well have saved this boy’s life.”
The boy had taken some clothes and left his home, but no one knew where he was headed. The only place his parents thought he would go was to his grandparents house in Orem.
However, he didn’t turn up there; instead, he was found miles away in a different county. Cannon said it was possible the young boy took UTA transit to travel up to Salt Lake City and made a transfer, which could explain how he found himself at a TRAX station downtown.
With colder temperatures moving in and in a busy city far from home, Cannon said the boy’s lucky he was found when he was.
“We’re just glad that we got him before something unsafe happened,” Cannon said.
Cannon estimated roughly 35-40 people were out searching for the boy during the four-hour window he was missing.
“I was on a phone call with a deputy and I could hear the overjoyed parents in the background,” Cannon said. “Parenting is difficult anytime, but when something like this happens it just tears at the heartstrings for parents, and I think all of us breathed a deep sigh of relief.”
Contributing: Scott Bigger, KSL
