Detroit police investigators are looking into the mystery of a handcuffed boy who walked into a liquor store last week before disappearing.
Officers from the city's 5th Precinct were called around 1 p.m. Feb. 22 to the store, on Detroit's east side, where they were told that a boy had walked in with his hands cuffed in front of him. Initially, the boy indicated he'd accidentally been handcuffed while playing with friends, but he later told at least one person at the scene that he'd been kidnapped, police officials said.
The boy, who appeared to be around 12 years old, left the store before officers arrived, the department said on its Facebook page. There have been no reports of a missing child in the area, but investigators want to find the boy to ensure that he is safe.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts has been asked to call the police at 313-596-5500.
A police spokesman told Fox 2 in Detroit that the boy did not appear to be in distress in the video, but investigators are taking the incident seriously. The liquor store the boy walked into, Nino's Market, is the same store outside which a 13-year-old boy was abducted last year.
Deontae Mitchell’s June 1, 2016, abduction was captured on surveillance cameras outside the store. He was tortured and murdered, his body found in a field on the city’s west side the following day.
According to Detroit's Local 4 News, Deontae was killed because he picked up some cash he found on the ground near the liquor store while he and his cousin were riding their bicycles. His cousin later told police that a drunken man dropped the $70 when he stopped to urinate outside the market.
The boys left the market on their bikes around 10:30 p.m., and Deontae was abducted a short time later. The surveillance video showed a man grabbing the boy and shoving him into a car.
A witness testified the month after Deontae's murder about being in the car that night and trying to console the boy, who was tied up in the back seat, crying and begging to go home, Local 4 News reported.
Three suspects pleaded guilty to his slaying in November and were given sentences ranging from 12 to 60 years in prison, the news station reported.
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