SCHERTZ, Texas –
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:
Anthony Sosa, an 11-year-old Schertz boy who had been the subject of a massive all-night search, returned home early Friday morning and is back with his family.
Anthony's father, Martin Sosa, reported him missing Thursday morning.
Schertz police said Martin Sosa told them that he and his son had a disagreement shortly before the child walked out of their home in the 10600 block of Hillbrook Drive.
Anthony was barefoot and wearing only pajamas on a day when temperatures dipped toward the freezing mark.
Police and other area law enforcement officers spent part of the day and all night Thursday searching the area for the boy. Nearby businesses also displayed fliers that gave information about his disappearance.
Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, Anthony emerged from a grassy area only a few dozen yards from his home. A game warden, one of several officers who ran toward the boy, carried him to the warmth of a mobile command post.
Anthony was still wearing just his short-sleeved pajamas and no shoes.
Relatives, including Anthony's father, wept and hugged each other outside the mobile police unit.
"Thank you, Thank you. We found him," Martin Sosa said. "I'm going to hug him so much. I'm not going to let him go."
A woman, who identified herself as the boy's great-grandmother, said she believes Anthony may have been hiding, frightened by all of the law enforcement officers who had gathered near his home.
His return also spelled relief for search crews who braved chilly temperatures in hopes of helping him make his way home.
"We're pleased with the situation," said Lt. Michael Carey of the Schertz Police Department. "We want to get him medically treated, make sure he's all right. And then we're going to do some follow-up on the situation."
Carey said early on that investigators had not determined where Anthony had been all night.
Although the boy was taken to a hospital, police said it was just a precautionary measure because he didn't appear to have any injuries.
Earlier Story:
Agencies from across Texas continued into the night Thursday looking for the boy who ran away earlier in the day.
Sosa left home around 7:30 a.m. in his green dinosaur pajamas and a T-shirt. He was barefoot and without a coat.
As temperatures continued to fall Thursday night, teams closed in on more than 15 hours of searching.
Alamo Area Search and Rescue, the Heidi Search Center, College Station Search Dog Network and Travis County Search and Rescue were also called in to use specially-trained dogs to track the boy's scent.
The boy's father, Martin Sosa, pleaded with his son Thursday night to come home.
"Please, Anthony, come home. Daddy loves you, come please, we love you. You aren't going to get in trouble or anything. We just want you to come home," said Martin Sosa.
Martin Sosa has watched as over a dozen statewide agencies have joined the search.
The teams have searched through areas of heavy brush and trees, using boots on the ground, K9 units and helicopters.
Martin Sosa said his son has done this before and that the boy was upset just before he left home Thursday morning.
"He was upset because he wanted to go to school and I told him to stay because it was too cold outside," he said.