A 2-year-old boy who had been missing since Tuesday was found by rescue workers Wednesday afternoon on a mountain in Shizuoka Prefecture. He was not injured, police said.
Masahiro Chubachi, 2, was found by a rescue dog around 1:50 p.m. about 1 km away from a campsite where he had come with his parents from Tokyo on Tuesday. According to police and the fire department, the boy went missing at the camp site around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Some 200 police and fire department officers were mobilized to search for him.
The boy's father, Kazutoshi, 48, said: “It's almost a dream that we found him. I really thank everyone who helped us.”
© Japan Today
26 Comments
Login to comment
Speed
That feeling of not knowing where your toddler is, is one of the most awful that a parent can feel. Lucky for this family.
timtak
Wow! Imagine that. I have a two year old boy and this story made me cry!
romulus3
how does a 2 year old go missing? there should be an investigation as to why!
romulus3
Masahiro Chubachi, 2, was found by a rescue dog
they should replace the entire Japanese police force with dogs
shugotokumaru
This rescue brought to you by Aquarius.
nath
"How does a 2 year old go missing?" Very easily - they are little wayward buggers who want to do exactly what they shouldn't. Luckily, it is just a (very dangerous) phase, but his parents have my every sympathy, as do all parents of toddlers.
Anomaly_Jr
romulus3: They just do - and not just from Japanese parents, who many JT posters often so gleefully bash. Well done.
Hughgarse
yep, I remember my son at 2.. You have to be on high alert, as they just leg it anywhere anytime they can...
Patto
Amazing the little boy could survive the night on that mountain! It was a miracle it didn't rain that night. I live there and often hike on that mountain. It is not warm at night. It's over 700 meters altitude where he was. He was probably on a north slope, which is overgrown with short trees and shrubs. Amazing they could find him! It is a real miracle.
romulus3
Anomaly_Jr,
yeah but if you are out in the jungle...anyway, I am sure his parents will never take their eyes of him again.
presto345
Me too!
neverknow2
9:30am boy goes missing. 1:50pm dog finds boy, 1km from the campsite. What were the 200 police doing? Making sure their uniforms were neat and tidy before they began the search?
Sarge
"What were the 200 police doing?"
Dogs have better noses than policemen.
nath
Dogs will find a sleeping child, police will likely miss him on an overgrown mountain if he is not moving. A job well done by the police and the dogs.
Dennis Bauer
Was there maybe a pachinko at the campsite? that would explain why the mother was not watching her kid.
helloklitty
Two year olds will just walk away without announcing their destination. I don't blame the parents although many hypocrites will. Just wait till it happens to you.
TPOJ
how does a 2 year old go missing?
Never spent much time around a 2 year old, have you?
outofmydepth
thank God they found him and he is alright!!
kirakira25
My 2 year old went missing at Ueno zoo for about ten minutes. I thought she was with MIL and MIL thought she was with me. And I am so paranoid I am all for chipping children with GPS! If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. I hope I never again have to feel what I felt for those looooong ten minutes. Parents of toddlers, you all have my sympathy!
bushlover
Keep your kids on a leash if you are afraid they may go missing in forested areas or even urban areas. Or by little bells like for cats.
bushlover
Now I know why some parents have those squishy annoying shoes on some kids. So everyone will know where the little troubleseekers are.
daftpunk1976
Kids's job= find any way that's possible to kill themself. Parents's job= to save them!
Orangeporange
I can imagine the panic those parents must have felt! I went camping with my daughter when she was 2 years old once, and will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER go camping with a 2 year old again! You can't even begin to imagine how difficult it is to set up camp and watch a 2 year old at once. If we must go on vacation with a 2 year old again, it will be somewhere we aren't going to be distracted and closed in enough so the little bugger can't dissappear!
NYC_Samurai
Very lucky family. Nice story with a happy ending.
kirakira25
Went I put my daughter on a toddler-leash once a Japanese obaachan went mental at me in the street, shouting that I was treating my child like a dog!!!
lipscombe
I hope you told her to shaddap and move along