Law enforcement agencies and dozens of volunteers on Monday continued searching in Searcy for an autistic toddler who was reported missing by his parents over the weekend.
A Level 2 Morgan Nick Amber Alert was issued early Monday morning for 2-year-old Malik Drummond. According to Searcy police spokesman Cpl. Steve Hernandez, officers responded about 6:30 p.m. Sunday to the child's home in the 700 block of West Park Avenue between Maple Avenue and Pecan Street. The toddler had vanished about 45 minutes earlier, police said.
Malik was last seen wearing a blue shirt and brown, striped pants. He's black, about 3 feet tall and 40 pounds. He has brown eyes and a light complexion.
Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Searcy Police Chief Jeremy Clark said that officers searched through the night for the boy. The White County sheriff's office and Searcy Fire Department participated in search efforts, as well. Clark said that a search team from Memphis combed the area with bloodhounds for about four hours but was unable to find the toddler.
"We've expanded our search farther then where I initially thought a 2-year-old child could go," he said.
The boy's father and stepmother told police that Malik was playing with his twin sister in the living room when he disappeared. One of the parents was asleep at the time, and the other was bathing another child, Clark said.
The couple have cooperated with investigators. Police had no evidence of foul play in the child's disappearance but were not ruling out the possibility, Clark said.
The FBI is assisting in an investigation.
"All avenues are being pursued. Any scenarios that you can think of, we've thought of," Clark said.
A few blocks north of the Drummonds' home, volunteers gathered at St. Mary Christian Methodist Episcopal Church to join search teams. Searcy Fire Chief Bill Baldridge said that as many as 150 people had showed up for two shifts of searches ending at 8 p.m. Volunteers were set to resume searching at 9 a.m. this morning, he said.
The American Red Cross provided food for volunteers at the church, where Baldridge said the mood was somber.
"With a 2-year-old child missing, that touches everyone's heart and pulls at your heartstrings," he said.
Baldridge noted that temperatures were cold and windy Sunday night and that Malik reportedly had no coat when he vanished.
"We're hoping that the child is found safe or at least in an environment where the wind didn't get to him quite as bad," he said.
Clark said that officers were searching for the child with a sense of urgency and that police would continue working to find him overnight.
"The blunt way to say this, folks, is a missing child is your worst nightmare as a law enforcement officer," he said.
Investigators have asked for anyone with information on the toddler's disappearance to call Searcy police at (501) 268-3531.
Metro on 11/25/2014