Toddler Found Wandering Alone in Kansas City is Reunited With Mother

31st Charlotte Street in Kansas City. Screenshot/Google Maps

A toddler who was discovered wandering around the streets of Kansas City unsupervised has been reunited with his mother, police said on Sunday, June 9.

Police found the boy, who is believed to be about 2 years old, at around 10:15 p.m local time on June 8, walking by himself near 31st and Charlotte streets, reported The Kansas City Star.

When officers came across the toddler, he was dressed in a white shirt, black shorts, and socks, and wasn’t wearing any shoes.

By 4 a.m. on June 9, the boy hadn’t been reported missing, according to the Kansas City Police Department, and a photo of the toddler was distributed by police to help identify him as they worked to locate his family.

While police worked to search for his family, the toddler was placed in protective custody and officers urged the public to contact the Department of Family Services Children’s Division with any information about the boy.

Police announced detectives had successfully located the boy’s mother at around 11 a.m. on June 9, and said they needed no further assistance from the public.

The Division of Family Services then arranged for the mother and child to be reunited.

According to Fox4KC, police made contact with the toddler’s mother and they have since been reunited.

At the time of the incident, the toddler was reportedly under the care of his father.

No criminal charges are expected, but an investigation by the Division of Family Services is currently underway, reported Fox4KC.

Man Jailed for Murder of Missing Kansas Toddler

In a separate incident in Kansas City, a man was sentenced to 21 years behind bars last week after he pleaded guilty to the murder of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter.

On June 3, 26-year-old Chaz Stephens, of Hoisington, was sentenced to 253 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections, announced Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt in a press release.

Stephens, who at the time of the incident was the boyfriend of the toddler’s mother, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder after Iviona Lewis’s murder in March 2018.

His charge had been lessened from what was originally a first-degree murder charge as part of the plea deal, reported The Wichita Eagle.

The 2-year-old had already been missing for 48 hours when she was reported missing on March 20 last year, and was last seen wearing just a blue pull-up diaper.

Iviona was discovered dead the following day in Barton County, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said.

The child’s mother was in Great Bend visiting her brother, and as there was a delay in reporting her missing, there was confusion over whose care she was placed under at the time, said Hoisington Police Chief Kenton Doze.

The toddler died on March 18, 2018, stated a Bryant Funeral Home obituary for Iviona Marae May Lewis, where she was described as “a loving, smart, kind, and gentle girl, who had the innate ability to lift anyone’s spirits.”

“A mother hen, Iviona took cheerful pride in caring for her brothers,” it added.