Oklahoma boy missing for 2 years found safe in College Park
A 10-year-old boy missing from Oklahoma for two years was found safe this week in College Park when his mother called police.
The father of the boy, whose name was not released, was granted full custody two years ago. But the child’s mother left Oklahoma with the boy, and eluded police until this week, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“This was an issue between mom and dad, and the poor kid got dragged into it,” Katrina Crouse with the Marshals Service said Friday. “I think sometimes they think once they leave the state, no one will look for them.”
But police in Midwest City, Okla., never stopped looking for Tahir Latrease Traylor. When detectives there tracked Traylor to Fulton County, they contacted the Marshals Service to investigate further, Crouse said.
Investigators were able to locate Traylor at a condo in College Park, where local police were also informed of details about the missing boy. Then, Traylor helped police find her when she called 911 Tuesday to report a possible burglar at her home, Crouse said.
“While we were sitting there, a woman came out front,” Crouse said. “She was on the phone and pacing around. She used her real name.”
When College Park police arrived at the home to investigate the burglary, Traylor was arrested. Her son, who was at the library at the time, was quickly met by Crouse, who tried to explain the situation to a scared boy.
“He was upset,” Crouse said. “I told him his dad was wanting to see him, and he calmed down. He was a very strong kid.”
He was also an avid reader and very polite, answering questions while his mother was taken to the Fulton County jail. The boy told investigators he had attended school in Atlanta and had recently moved to south Fulton with his mother.
After spending two nights in DFCS custody, the boy was reunited Thursday with his father, who rushed to Georgia to see the boy, Crouse said.
“His main concern the entire time was for that boy,” Crouse said.
Traylor was charged with being a fugitive from justice and remained in the Fulton County jail Friday, Fulton sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said. An extradition hearing was held Wednesday, giving Oklahoma authorities 15 days to pick up Traylor, Flanagan said.
