New details have emerged in the desperate search for a four-year-old boy who wandered away from his North Carolina home barefoot.
Raul Gonzalez Johnson was last seen as he was being watched by his grandfather at his mobile home on Village Drive in Laurinburg when he walked next door to visit one of his neighbors.
In a press conference held on Friday afternoon, Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey said they are looking at all possibilities – including abduction, reported WGHP.
Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has now taken lead of the search that was the cause of a statewide Amber Alert.
Authorities have not ruled out abduction in the disappearance of four-year-old Raul Gonzalez Johnson (left and right) who wandered away from his Laurinburg, North Carolina, home barefoot on Wednesday
Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has now taken lead of the search that was the cause of a statewide Amber Alert (Pictured, Raul)
Raul was last seen as he was being watched by his grandfather at his mobile home on Village Drive (pictured) around 11am when he walked next door to visit one of his neighbors
The FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, a group of highly-trained experts in the field of missing children, is assisting in the effort
Authorities said Raul’s grandfather, Tim Johnson, was watching him at about 11am on Wednesday when he lost track of the boy.
When the grandfather couldn’t find Raul after about 20 minutes, he contacted police, and an Amber Alert was issued.
The Scotland County Sheriff’s Office said that a pond just 800 yards from Raul’s home will be drained, despite a dive team coming up with nothing on Thursday.
The pond has been a top area of interest since three separate K9 units individually ‘took the same course’ from Raul’s home to the pond, Sheriff Kersey said.
If Raul isn’t found on Friday, authorities say the search will become a recovery mission.
At the time of his disappearance, he is said to have been wearing a white and orange striped shirt with tigers on it, along with white pants printed with rocket ships.
Raul is said to be half-Native American and half-Hispanic, with black hair and brown eyes, standing about three feet tall and weighing 38 pounds.
Authorities said that this isn’t the first time that Raul had walked away from his home. He reportedly went missing for about 25 minutes on Tuesday.
At the time of Raul’s disappearance, he (pictured) is said to have been wearing a white and orange striped shirt with tigers on it, along with white pants printed with rocket ships
Authorities have said that if Raul (pictured) is not found on Friday, the search-and-rescue mission will turn into a recovery mission
The Scotland County Sheriff’s Office said that a pond (pictured) just 800 yards from Raul’s home will be drained, despite a dive team coming up with nothing on Thursday
Raul’s mother, Annie Johnson (pictured), told WRAL that she is currently trying to keep it together for the sake of her other children
Sheriff Kersey said that about 200 people have been searching for Raul both on the ground and in the air, while the dive team had been dispatched to the pond, WBTV reported on Thursday.
Additionally, the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, a group of highly-trained experts in the field of missing children, is assisting in the effort.
According to ABC11, Kersey said the hope is to uncover new information about what happened to the child, because searchers ‘have pretty much covered all the area that we thought a four-year-old could travel barefoot and we have not left any rock overturned.’
Raul’s sister, Cheyenne Johnson (left) and his aunt, Kasey Locklear, hold posters of him
About 200 people have been involved in the search for Raul, which has involved people on the ground and in the air. K-9 and dive units have also been employed in the search
Vivian Smiling (left) comforts Bonnie Bearden – Raul’s cousin – after Thursday’s press conference about Raul’s disappearance at the Stewartsville Volunteer Fire Department
Beginning on Friday, the Scotland County Sheriff’s Department, FBI and SBI will transition from a search-and-rescue effort into an ‘investigative approach’
Beginning on Friday, the Scotland County Sheriff’s Department, FBI and SBI will transition from a search-and-rescue effort into an ‘investigative approach.’
Raul’s mother, Annie Johnson, told WRAL that she is currently trying to keep it together for the sake of her other children.
‘I don’t know. I’m just trying to hold it in,’ she said. ‘I’m trying to stay positive that he’s still out there somewhere safe.’
Authorities do not currently believe that foul play was involved, based on the interviews they’ve conducted with Raul’s family members, neighbors or information that’s come in from the public.
Anyone with information about Johnson is asked to call the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 276-3385 or call 911.