A Portsmouth mom thought her 14-year-old son was safe at home safe.
Then the phone rang.
Someone told her the boy had been spotted walking the streets from New Boston toward Sciotoville.
When she tried to call him, he didn’t answer.
That was enough to send her straight to Portsmouth police.
Around 7 p.m., the worried mother asked officers to help find the teen, who was supposed to be home. An officer working a detail in New Boston started asking around and found a group of teenagers who had seen him at the park.
They said he had taken off about 30 minutes earlier.
Unfortunately, nobody seemed very clear on where he went next.
Police got different stories about which direction the boy had headed, leaving officers to start checking the area.
The teen was described as about 5-foot-6 with blond hair and brown eyes, wearing a white shirt and red shorts.
Fortunately, the search didn’t last long.
An officer located him in the 5300 block of Winchester Avenue, picked him up, and gave him a ride home.
Then came the call every worried parent wants to get: he’d been found.
Police notified his mother and returned the teen to his residence.