5-year-old boy reported abducted in Laguna, found safe in Rizal

LUCENA CITY — A five-year-old boy, who was reported to have been abducted in Calamba City in Laguna, was safely reunited with his family after he was found in the Rizal town of Tanay on Thursday.

Calamba City police said a concerned citizen found the child crying outside San Ildefonso Church in Barangay Aldea and had immediately reported it to local police, according to a report on Friday (October 23).

Officers from the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) brought the boy to the police station and provided him food and appropriate care.

READ: 4-year-old boy allegedly kidnapped in Cebu City returned to family

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, a Calamba City police investigator arrived at the Tanay police station with the child’s parents, leading to a reunion.

Calamba police said the boy’s mother had reported him missing at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 22.

According to police, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from Looc Elementary School in Barangay Looc showed a man allegedly taking the child at 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The investigator later obtained information from the chief of the Barangay Public Safety Office (BPSO) that the alleged abductor was a former employee of the office.

Police sought the BPSO’s assistance in contacting the suspect and persuading him to return the child. The boy was subsequently found at the church premises in Tanay. 

According to a news report, the boy’s mother said the boy knew his abductor as the former live-in partner of his grandmother. 

The investigation, including efforts to locate the suspect and file the appropriate charges, is ongoing./coa