A 5-year-old boy identified only as Will was found alone Friday afternoon at a BP gas station in Kansas City, Missouri, and police are now asking the public for help tracking down his family. He was discovered around 3:30 p.m. at 2303 Cleveland, with no immediate word on who he was with or how he ended up there.
According to the KCTV5 report on the case, the Kansas City Police Department described Will as about 3 feet 6 inches tall and roughly 40 pounds. Officials have not released details about what he was wearing or what led to him being alone at the station, and KCPD is asking anyone with information to call 911 or its Juvenile Investigations Unit at 816-234-5150.
These calls are distinct from KCPD’s broader missing-person caseload, which includes adults and juveniles reported missing or as runaways. In 2024, the department received 1,125 missing-person reports and located 1,118 people; 872 of those located were classified as missing or runaway juveniles, KCUR reported. Those figures describe all missing-person reports, not a count of children found alone in public places.
A Pattern of Similar Cases Around Kansas City
Will's case follows a string of similar incidents in which Kansas City police have turned to the public to help reunite a lost or abandoned child with family. In several of those cases, officers later announced the child had been safely returned to a parent or guardian, though the outcome for Will has not been reported.
The department’s dedicated Missing Persons Section was reinstated in April 2023 after criticism over how missing-person cases were handled. The unit was staffed with seven detectives and a sergeant focused on those investigations, KCUR reported at the time. That broader work provides context for KCPD’s public appeals, but the department’s missing-person caseload should not be confused with the smaller set of cases involving children found alone described here.
One earlier case involved a boy identified as Mason, found near East 53rd Street and Hardesty Avenue and described as roughly 3 to 4 years old, 3 feet 1 inch tall and 33 pounds, per kmbc.com. Police later said his family had been found. In another instance reported by fox4kc.com, a young child was dropped off at a fire station at 2039 Hardesty Avenue around 10:40 a.m. on a Saturday, and police announced the family had since been located.
Missouri’s Safe Place for Newborns law is a separate, narrowly defined option: it covers voluntary surrender of a newborn up to 90 days old without prosecution when done safely and according to the law, with protections that may apply to children between 90 days and 1 year old. The state says a child must be surrendered to an approved professional or a newborn safety incubator, the Missouri Department of Social Services explains. The law does not apply to a 5-year-old like Will.
Other Recent Reunifications
kshb.com reported that officers found a girl wandering near Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Benton Boulevard around 7:45 a.m. one Tuesday, and police later confirmed her family was found and she was safe. The outlet also reported a separate case in which a 5-year-old found in the 1300 block of East 89th Street was reunited with family the following Wednesday night.
A similar case covered by kmbc.com described a child found near East 33rd Street and Montgall Avenue who appeared to be about 5 years old; police said that child, too, was later reunited with a parent. Each of those reports directed residents with information to reach out through the same KCPD juvenile channels now being used in Will's case.
For now, Will's identity and family remain unknown. Anyone who recognizes him or has information about his family is urged to contact police right away.
