New Philadelphia police have located a missing 15-year-old boy who left New Philadelphia High School shortly after being dropped off Wednesday morning.
The teen left the high school around 7:34 a.m., according to Cleveland 19 News. Police said he has autism and is nonverbal. At 7:38 a.m., he was seen walking down 2nd Street NW past Central Elementary.
He was located around 11 a.m., according to Cleveland 19 News. Police have not said where he was found, and no further details about his condition have been released.
The Joshua Alert is one of five statewide missing-person alerts available in Ohio, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation issues it after a request from local law enforcement. It is distinct from an AMBER Alert, which is intended for confirmed child-abduction cases; Joshua Alerts address endangered missing children with autism or other developmental disabilities. The Ohio Attorney General’s alert guide outlines the systems and criteria.
Ohio’s Joshua Alert criteria require law enforcement to confirm a child is missing, that the child has autism or another developmental disability, that there is a credible threat of immediate serious harm or death, and that enough identifying information is available to help locate the child. The law explicitly includes being nonverbal or having limited communication among circumstances that can indicate immediate danger; for a qualifying child under 18, police must notify the statewide program as soon as the information is verified. Ohio law sets those criteria.
