On the evening of Friday, September 20, the Searcy County Sheriff’s Department received a call from a resident of St. Joe stating his 17 year old son could not be found. The father stated he was unsure of the exact day and time the juvenile left.

Searcy County Sheriff Kenny Cassell said when his office learned of the missing juvenile, they entered him into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as a missing person. During the course of the investigation later that night, Cassell and his staff learned that the juvenile may have possibly traveled to Olathe, Kansas, since he had friends and family members in the area.

Due to a joint investigation between the Searcy County Sheriff's Department and the Olathe Police Department, the juvenile was located early Sunday morning at a McDonald's restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas.

The juvenile was housed in Olathe until Sunday afternoon when Cassell and Searcy County Chief Deputy Dewayne Pierce traveled to Kansas and returned the juvenile to the State of Arkansas.

Cassell said the case has been turned over to the juvenile authorities. Searcy County Deputy Sgt. Kevin Trammell led the investigation into the recovery of the juvenile.