A mischievous Brooklyn boy who was reported missing Thursday morning was spotted skipping school on the roof of his home by a news helicopter dispatched to cover the incident.
A CBS 2 helicopter arrived on the scene at the Sheepshead Bay Apartments shortly after police said the boy disappeared after walking to school.
However, the boy’s parents realized he hadn’t arrived at his destination and called 911 around 9:45 a.m., police said.
A police alert said the boy was wearing an orange tie. CBS 2 NY reported.
Aviation journalist Dan Rice was looking out of a CBS helicopter when he said he saw a boy sitting in a chair on the roof of his building who “matched the description of the missing child.”
“I zoomed in on the camera … and looked down at my notes,” Rice reportedly recalled.
“I looked at what the placement desk sent me to see what the child was wearing. I looked back at the child and he was wearing everything that was in the description. He looked about 9 years old.”
CBS notified the NYPD while a helicopter waited for officers to arrive on the roof.
“He packed up his laptop and his school bag and left with the officers,” Rice told the station, “They looked back at our helicopter, gave a big thumbs up and took the child back to his parents.”
Police say the boy has been reunited with his mother.
It is unclear where the boy is enrolled, whether he was planning to attend classes or a summer program.
Neighbors told CBS 2 they saw the child on the roof but didn’t think he was a missing person.
“My wife and I went in for a coffee, it was about 8 o’clock and there was this sort of swinging bench at the top and a kid was sitting on the bench and playing on his iPad,” the neighbour said.
“I assumed his parents gave him permission to go there. It never occurred to me, ‘Why is a kid there?’ It’s a community place.”
Rice said this was the first time he had experienced something like this in his role.
“It was a really gratifying experience to be able to find that child for his parents in that building,” he said.
