Missing Piedmont teen found safe at laundromat - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Missing Piedmont teen found safe at laundromat

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PIEDMONT, MO (KFVS) -

A 16-year-old boy that was missing overnight in Piedmont has been found safe.

The teen was found around 7 Thursday morning at a laundromat near Lake Road 3 and AA Highway in Wayne County.

A viewer saw information about the missing boy on Heartland News Thursday and contacted authorities saying they had seen the boy late Wednesday night.

Crews immediately searched the area the person reported seeing him and located the teen, who had three dogs with him.

Wayne County Sheriff's department says the boy has Tourette syndrome and had been missing since Wednesday night around 6:30 p.m.

According to police, the boy was upset and walked away from his house in Dry Creek.

Officials were searching through the night and into Thursday morning for the missing teen.

"It was a God-send," said Sheriff Dean Finch. "It was a miracle that he made  it though the night as cold as it was. When we found him he had lots of scratches on him where he had been in the  woods. He had lost his shoes somewhere along the way in the night, and was barefooted." 

"His parents, you couldn't have seen more joy on someone's face," said Steffen Hastings, who searched for the teen. "I mean his grandma and his mom were both ecstatic he was back, safe and sound." 

The boy's name is not being released.

Copyright 2013 KFVS. All rights reserved.

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