Clayton County

Boy with special needs wanders alone into gas station at 3 a.m.

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — After more than 10 hours, police finally found the caregivers of a young boy, who wandered inside a local store alone in the middle of the night along Old Dixie Highway in Clayton County.

Channel 2’s Audrey Washington obtained surveillance video that shows the boy head straight inside this store, barefoot and alone.

"I saw him running, coming inside the store and he just started to open things, find something to eat," store clerk Esbyda Aguilar told Washington.

Clayton County police told Washington the boy was alone and searched for candy.

Aguilar said once the overnight clerk started to question the child, he noticed something was terribly wrong.

"He could see there was a scratch on his face, he had a bruise, he had no shoes and he was just hungry," Aguilar told Washington.

Investigators said the boy has special needs and was unable to tell them his name or address.

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He could only say the words juice, chicken and gorilla.

"It's just so upsetting. How do you not know your child is not in bed?" Aguilar told Washington.

That's exactly what investigators wanted to know.

They said they searched and there were no recent missing child reports matching the boy's description.

Police also went door-to-door in the neighborhood surrounding the store, to look for the boy's parents or guardian.

By Thursday afternoon investigators finally found the boy's caregivers. Still, Aguilar has questions.

"I don't know if he was running and got scratches from running or someone hit him. It's sad," Aguilar said.

The Department of Children and Families has been contacted and the boy has been placed in their custody.

So far, police have not filed any charges in the case.