Nathan L Bagent
Age 9
Missing January 6, 2003Posted on Thu, Jan. 09, 2003
Hunt for boy widens Police, volunteers canvass Akron neighborhood searching for 9-year-old
`We just want him to come home'
By Craig Webb
Beacon Journal staff writer They've searched on foot. They've used police dogs. They've driven ATVs to canvass nearby rough terrain. And they've even peered out the windows of a search helicopter over Akron's Kenmore neighborhood. And yet, the search for missing 9-year-old Nathan L. Bagent has so far proved fruitless. No one has seen or heard from Nathan since Monday afternoon when he walked out of Smith Elementary School on Chester Avenue and simply disappeared. His father, Jeff Paul Fox, told a throng of reporters and photographers gathered outside of the family's 15th Street home Wednesday afternoon that he was at the school to pick up his son because of the heavy snow but never saw the boy come out. Since then, police officers, police cadets, search dogs, firefighters, volunteers and even an Ohio National Guard helicopter have been canvassing neighborhoods, parks, businesses and railroad tracks in Akron's Kenmore area. Akron Police Lt. Sylvia Trundle said police have been summoned to the family's home six times since Jan. 25 of last year to investigate reports that Nathan had wandered off. In all the previous cases, Nathan was found within hours. In one instance, Trundle said, a police officer discovered the boy foraging through a trash bin looking for food. With this in mind, Trundle said, police are paying particular attention to trash bins and abandoned or vacant homes in the Kenmore area, believing the boy may have found food and shelter there. The cold weather, coupled with instances where the youngster has eaten food to the point of illness and has drunk enough water to cause seizures, Trundle said, makes searchers concerned for his well-being. Fox said his son suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that manifests itself through food and apparent ravenous hunger pangs. Despite the passage of time, Fox said, he still hopes that Nathan will be found alive and well. ``I think he's probably afraid he's in trouble,'' Fox said. ``At this point, we just want him to come home. ``He's really friendly with strangers,'' he said. ``That's what we are concerned about.'' Nathan's paternal grandfather, who is also named Jeff, said he's concerned that his grandson is being portrayed as an odd kid who wanders around the neighborhood in search of food. He acknowledges that Nathan does have ``issues'' that flare up occasionally and last about an hour. But for the most part, the grandfather said, Nathan is a happy boy with a great personality. ``We're all just stressed out and worried,'' he said. County notified in past The Summit County Children Services Board has been contacted nine times about the boy's welfare since 1995, CSB Deputy Director Connie Humble said. The most recent referral was Jan. 1 from Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. ``The child had been admitted to Children's Hospital with an electrolyte imbalance,'' Humble said. ``He had just ingested too much water.'' On that referral and others before, CSB recommended the boy receive counseling. The agency received two referrals in 2002 -- one because the boy had run away. The other came from a neighbor who had seen the boy going through garbage looking for food. Some of the referrals over the years alleged abuse or neglect, which was never substantiated. CSB didn't open a case on any of the nine referrals. ``Most were dealing with mental health issues,'' she said. ``He was unruly and there were contacts with juvenile court. Neighbor Dave Laird, 51, who boasts that he's the nosiest person on the street as its community watch captain, said he's lived in his house 20 years and in the two years that the Fox family has lived next door, he's only seen the boy once. ``He doesn't come out and play or nothing,'' he said. Fellow neighbor Debbie Hazelett, 45, said she's only seen Nathan about a half-dozen times, including Monday -- the day he was reported missing. Hazelett said she saw the boy tear out of the house in the morning, running to school. On a street full of kids, she said, Nathan was never let outside to play with the other youngsters. ``It's just odd that you'd never see him,'' she said. At Nathan's school, security officers helped the police by compiling educational records on the boy and assisting with the neighborhood search. District officials sent letters to the homes of Smith Elementary students Tuesday, letting parents know about the boy's disappearance. The letter requested that anyone who had seen or had contact with the boy call the school or police. School spokeswoman Karen Ingraham said the district's goal was to alert students and parents while not causing a panic. ``We try to keep things as normal as possible,'' she said. Following tips Trundle said investigators are now retracing their steps in the neighborhood and checking out all leads. The department has received calls from residents as far away as Cleveland, claiming to have seen the child. So far, these tips have not panned out. Trundle said the boy's father even viewed a surveillance tape from a nearby Dairy Mart that captured an image of a youngster matching the boy's description. Fox said it looked like Nathan, but it wasn't his son. Trundle said the family has been cooperating fully with police, including the boy's mother, who has not been in contact with her son for years. Police have no reason to believe anyone in the family is involved, she said. Police officers, along with building and housing inspectors, have been searching vacant homes and buildings in the Kenmore area. The effort continued Wednesday night as about 200 volunteers gathered at the Kenmore Church of the Nazarene at 12th Street and Iona Avenue to canvass the area. Organizers Greg Griffin and Paula Cable had volunteers break up into small groups and educate families on both sides of every street in the Kenmore neighborhood about the missing boy. Katrina Ver Doot brought her sons Brian, 11, and Benjamin, 13, with her. Like many, she didn't know the missing boy but was moved by his plight. ``No stone should be left unturned,'' Ver Doot said. ``I'd want somebody to help me if it was one of my boys.'' Trundle said the department did not activate an Amber Alert when Nathan was reported missing because he did not meet the criteria set by Ohio lawmakers. To initiate an Amber Alert to immediately notify the media and police agencies of a missing youngster, she said, four criteria must be met. Trundle said Nathan's case met only two of those: He's under age 18 and there's a chance he's hurt or worse. But no one saw him being abducted; nor is there evidence or a description of a potential abductor. That aside, Trundle said, the department is taking this disappearance very seriously. ``We're doing everything we can,'' she said. Nathan's father said he's been pleased with the police response thus far. He thinks his son will be found hiding in an abandoned house somewhere near his school. ``It's been really cold,'' he said. ``I just hope he's been warm.'' http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/4906739.htm | 
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