Search continues for 6-year-old boy with autism who went missing in West Chester

Editor’s note: Officials previously said the boy was 7 years old and suggested a different spelling of his last name. This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling and age.

Crews are still searching for a 6-year-old boy with autism who went missing in West Chester Wednesday evening.

Police said Joshua Al Latif Jr. was last seen near his home on Windtree Drive. He had been dropped off by a bus driver earlier that day and was with his adult sister. He was then reported missing to police around 5:30 p.m.

Hundreds of civilian volunteers showed up before 6 p.m. to help authorities search within a five-mile radius of Al-Latif’s home.

Hundreds of volunteers came forward to help search for a missing 6-year-old child.

Earlier in the day, fire officials said their goal was to re-inspect areas near where Al-Latif disappeared and further north; Teams were also formed to search the Liberty Township and Fairfield areas. During an update Thursday morning at 11:30 a.m., West Chester officials said there are eight retention ponds on the Windtree Drive property; two of them were searched in the dark on Wednesday evening, and another five were searched on Thursday morning.

Firefighters and police leading the search asked anyone within a five-mile radius of Windtree Drive to check any doorbell cameras or CCTV systems from 4.45pm until dark on Wednesday evening.

Al-Latif does not speak and is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 50-60 pounds. He was wearing a black or dark colored jacket, a brown shirt, brown trousers and black shoes. Police said he is known to love water and parks and may run away if approached. Police also said he may not show up when his name is called.

Courtesy of West Chester Township.

Several different agencies, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Texas Equusearch, Buckeye SAR and several Cincinnati area agencies, responded to help in the search along with nearly 300 volunteers from the local community, West Chester Police Chief Brian Rebholz said Thursday morning.

They bring in a variety of expertise and technical equipment to help, although Rebholz said weather conditions have limited crews’ ability to use thermal imaging and some types of aircraft. However, Rebholz said crews were able to fly drones to assist in the search and plan to continue to do so as long as weather permits. On Thursday, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office was able to provide a helicopter to assist in the search.

Crews initially began searching the apartment complex where the boy lived but have since expanded their search. They are now conducting searches throughout the northwest portion of West Chester, with officials saying Al-Latif may also have traveled to Liberty or Fairfield Townships.

“We rely on our citizens and partners to be able to take the image we provide and call our dispatch center if they have information that they think is relevant to this,” said Randall Hanifen, assistant fire chief. .

Anyone with information or who has seen Al-Latif is asked to call police at 513-777-2231.