Child Rescued from Freeway in Santee
April 29, 2025 – San Diego County Sheriff’s Office officials report that the quick-thinking actions of an off-duty Sheriff's Dispatcher and Sheriff's Deputies led to the rescue of a missing child who had wandered onto a freeway in Santee.
To watch Sheriff's ASTREA (helicopter) video of the incident click here.
On Sunday, March 9, just before 4:30 p.m., the Sheriff's Communications Center received a report about an 11-year-old autistic boy who had gone missing from a supermarket located in the 9600 block of Mission Gorge Road. According to the reporting party, the child, who is non-verbal, was with his family when he ran out of the store. His family called the Sheriff's Office when they were not able to find him.
Within minutes, deputies from the Santee Sheriff's Station began to look for the missing child. A Sheriff's ASTREA helicopter also began making announcements to the public in the area about the child.
Around 5:15 p.m., off-duty Sheriff's Dispatcher Shiloh Corbet was driving home from work when she spotted someone matching the missing child's description running along Mast Boulevard near the State Route 52 on-ramp. She immediately called the Sheriff's Communications Center to report the sighting. While on the phone, Corbet noticed the child running up the freeway on-ramp. She immediately stopped her car and followed the child. By the time she got to the freeway's shoulder, the child had crossed the westbound lanes of SR-52 and was standing in the center divider.
Knowing the child's name from the information given to her by the Sheriff's Communications Center, Corbet called to him to stay where he was at for his own safety. The entire time, she was relaying information on the phone to an on-duty Sheriff's Dispatcher Supervisor, who was directing deputies to the scene.
Once deputies arrived, they parked on the street below the SR-52 overpass. They could see the child at the top of the steep concrete embankment. Deputies tried to contact him, but the child moved away from them.
When deputies saw him start moving towards the center divider guardrail, they ran up the embankment to try and stop him. The child hopped the guardrail and started running along the busy freeway. Without hesitation, Deputies Cody Green and Michael Moser jumped over the guardrail and raced to catch up to the child. The deputies were able to get him off the freeway. He was soon reunited with his family. No one was hurt.
(From left to right: Assistant Sheriff Ricardo Lopez, Sheriff's Dispatcher Shiloh Corbet, Deputy Cody Green, Deputy Michael Moser, Commander John Boyce and Captain Aldo Hernandez)
The San Diego County Sheriff's Office wants to thank Sheriff's Dispatcher Shiloh Corbet, Deputies Cody Green and Michael Moser, as well as the Santee Sheriff's Station, Lakeside Sheriff's Substation, Sheriff's ASTREA, Sheriff's Communications Center and several Good Samaritans, for working together to find the missing child and getting him to safety.
April is Autism Acceptance Month. If you have a loved one or are caring for someone who has been diagnosed with dementia or other developmental disabilities, our free Take Me Home Program can help if they get lost or wander away. The physical and medical information you provide and other pertinent details about their care will help tailor our search and rescue response to help bring the patient home safely. Learn more about Take Me Home here.
Another great resource we are proud to share is the Blue Envelope Program. It was developed by the Sheriff's Office and our community partners in 2023. The Blue Envelope Program is designed to promote inclusivity and serve as an enhanced communication awareness tool between law enforcement and community members diagnosed with a condition or disability such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, dementia, anxiety or other conditions that might require additional accommodations or awareness during a law enforcement interaction. For more information, including how to participate, click here.
Source & photos: San Diego County Sheriff’s Office
