Charlotte, Mooresville Fire Teams Help Search For Missing NC Boy

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Members of Charlotte and Mooresville-area fire departments have deployed to Scotland County, N.C. to aide in the ground search of a missing 4-year-old boy who went missing Jan. 24, as the search leads to a pond near the family home.

Friday marks the third day that Raul Johnson, 4, has been missing after his grandfather “lost track” of him, according to WBTW. The boy’s mother, Annie Johnson, was at work when he went missing. “I thought maybe he was just hiding because he likes to hide, but he never stays gone this long,” she told the station. “He always comes back. If I holler for him, he comes back, and this time he didn’t come back.”

An elderly woman who lived near the family home and who the boy would visit for snacks said she last saw him around 10:30 a.m., when he was walking back to his home, The Laurinburg Exchange reported.

Search crews have poured in from around the state to assist in the search, including members of Mooresville’s Fire-Rescue team, who left for Scotland County Friday morning, according to the Town of Mooresville.“MFR personnel are scheduled to assist for up to three days, if needed,” said a Town of Mooresville Tweet.

Also on hand from the Charlotte area are members of Charlotte’s Fire Department, who are providing tactical communications assistance. “We will have continued 24hr Ops on scene through the weekend or until the young guy is located,” CFD said in a Tweet.

An Amber Alert was issued for the boy, who was last seen Wednesday, and was wearing a white and orange tiger-striped shirt and white pants with rocket ships on them. Search teams have scoured the area in a two-mile radius around the family home. By Friday, however, the search was focused on a nearby pond after three dog tracking teams led officers to the body of water, WBTW reported.

Search divers have not found anything in the pond, and Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey said he wants to drain it to eliminate any doubt. “It’s not that the divers didn’t do a good job, but he’s a small child – weighs about 35 pounds – and if I don’t drain it, if we don’t drain it, then that doubt will always be there,” he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

Photo courtesy of National Center For Missing & Exploited Children