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Strangers say they found missing boy next to tree, moment captured on video

A 9-year-old San Antonio boy was found alive and safe after going missing Tuesday.

SAN ANTONIO — Nine-year-old Isaiah “Ronnie” Hedland, who had been missing since Tuesday, was found around 9 a.m. Wednesday between Orey and Surrey Avenue on a service road. 

Clarissa Perales said she and her nephew, Alexavier Estrada, decided to help in the search early Wednesday morning.

“I have a 10-year-old daughter myself and I figured if I could do something to help, let me get out there and try to help with the search party,” Perales said. “We looked through alleys. We looked through lots. We work with detectives and they covered one side and we covered the other side. We worked with the cops to and I asked him for flyers.”

Perales said eventually they spotted a body in an alley and immediately started recording on their phone as a precaution. 

“I didn’t know if it was a little boy or a man,” Estrada said, “and I was just like, ‘Hey, Tia!’ and I showed her and she said, ‘Hey, let’s hurry up and we need to call the cops.’”

In the cell phone video, a boy can be seen sitting next to a tree. Perales and Estrada call out his name and Ronnie lifts up his head. They run over to him and hug the child. His shoes were off and next to him on the ground. 

Emily Perales, Vasquez's sister, said Vasquez told her the boy didn’t appear to be scared or hurt. She said the boy didn’t remember what happened to him before he ended up next to the tree. 

“She's just a kind person. Her and my nephew, they decided, 'Let's do this.' and they found him,” Perales said.

After their arrived, SAPD detectives took Perales and Estrada to police headquarters, where they were questioned for six hours while their phones were confiscated. 

“For about an hour in there I was really regretting it. I said I shouldn’t have went to go look for him, but somewhere there’s a parent that’s happy we did find him,” Perales said.

Perales said she believes the boy lives about two to three miles away from where they found him. She also said police told her the child was grounded the night before and his phone was taken away.

San Antonio Police said detectives are still investigating and do not have any further updates at this time.

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