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Boy, 11, returns home on his own

Police, who launched a massive all-night search, said the family should not have waited so long to report the boy missing.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published April 28, 2005

TAMPA - The all-night search for an east Tampa boy ended Wednesday morning when the 11-year-old returned home on his own.

But police, mindful of two recent cases in which missing Tampa Bay children turned up dead, warn the family's decision to wait more than five hours before reporting his disappearance could have ended tragically.

"The family was searching on their own and didn't tell us until 11:30 Tuesday night," Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "If we had known sooner, we may have been able to prevent him from wandering around in the dark where someone with bad intentions could have taken him into harm's way."

Devonte Warren disappeared after an argument with his 9-year-old brother about 6 p.m. Tuesday, McElroy said.

He put on a second layer of clothes, got an umbrella and left his house off E Henry Avenue near 40th Street.

"He said he was going to run away from home," McElroy said. "This kid has never left home before without his parents' permission, so that raises the flag."

Relatives looked for Devonte for a few hours before calling police at 11:30 p.m.

McElroy said officers launched a massive search, canvassing the neighborhood with bloodhounds and visiting the homes of registered sexual predators and offenders in Warren's neighborhood.

Almost 1,000 homes received reverse 911 calls alerting them to Devonte's disappearance.

"Obviously, we've had two recent cases in the bay area that ended tragically, so we were not going to take any chances," McElroy said. "If we think it's a legitimate case, we're going to send out the bloodhounds and do the reverse 911."

Bloodhounds tracked Devonte's scent to his school bus stop and to a friend's house, where he had apparently played, McElroy said. The dogs searched the playground of Sheehy Elementary, where Devonte is a fifth-grader, because his mother told police he loves being at school.

The search ended at 7 a.m. when Devonte returned home to his worried mother and grandmother. They were not available for comment Wednesday.

McElroy said Devonte had wandered in the dark for a few hours before sneaking into a friend's house through a window. He slept, then woke up early before anyone else in the house and sneaked back out. McElroy said no one at the friend's house knew Devonte was there.

"He thought it was time to go home, that it was time to go to school," McElroy said. "But he came home to a very upset family."

Devonte's brief disappearance comes as the family of a slain Ruskin girl mourns her. The body of Sarah Lunde, 13, was found April 16 on an abandoned fish farm near her home. Her family had reported her missing days before. They buried her last weekend.

Last month, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was found dead near her Homosassa home, more than three weeks after she disappeared.

And Wednesday, Bradenton investigators located Margarita Aguilar-Lopez, 12, in South Carolina. She had been reported missing and authorities feared she had been abducted.

Staff researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 01:17:11]