Missing 8-year-old Fort Worth boy found safe in neighbor's apartment

FORT WORTH, Texas - Police have found the 8-year-old boy who went missing while playing with friends Tuesday evening in south Fort Worth.

Officers found Dieudonne Babutu around 8 a.m. as they were going door to door at the Laderna Palms Apartments searching for him.

“He was safe inside an apartment playing with a balloon when officers found him. He was just doing what a child does,” said Buddy Calzada, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Police Department.

Babutu’s parents said they last saw him play with friends on the playground around 6 p.m. Tuesday. They searched for him around the complex in the 4500 block of Campus Drive for several hours before calling the police.

Calzada said police plan to question the boy and his family about what happened. He has been known to play with different friends on the playground and stay at a friend’s house. They’re hoping he just forgot to tell his parents this time.

“There’s a lot of questions to be asked but the biggest thing is that we have an answer and that answer is that we found the child and he’s safe. Great deal. Great outcome this morning,” he said.

At one point there were as many as 25 officers plus a helicopter and search dogs looking for the boy.