CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Abduction charges could be filed in the disappearance of a Clay County child who was at the center of an Amber Alert, authorities said.
The 10-year-old boy was found safe about 9 p.m. Thursday in Jacksonville after he had disappeared six hours earlier on his way home from Argyle Elementary School, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office said video recorded about 2:50 p.m. showed the boy leaving school property on his red scooter with friends. As they were walking down Spencer Plantation Boulevard near Watermill Drive, according to deputies, the boy started a conversation with at least one person in a silver sedan and when his friends looked back, the boy and the car were gone.
Countless law enforcement officers could be seen going door to door, even stopping drivers, as they searched for the child and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert about 6:45 p.m.
Then, investigators were able to locate an address in Jacksonville and the boy was found inside about 9 p.m., the Sheriff's Office said. The boy was then returned home to his grandmother.
"He is safe," said Sheriff's Office Chief of Detectives Patrick Golemee. "The people involved in this matter are being questioned, and we're looking forward to placing some charges on them."
He added that they were looking at abduction charges. It's unclear how many people those charges would be filed against.
Around the same time that authorities announced that the boy had been found and the Amber Alert had been canceled, Clay County deputies and Jacksonville police had surrounded a home on Necia Drive South -- about 5 miles away from where the boy disappeared.
A Clay County detective confirmed to News4Jax that a home in the area was connected to the disappearance of the child, but deputies could not confirm whether an arrest had been made at the home.
Editors note: News4Jax has removed the child’s name and photo from this article because he is no longer endangered.