WEST JORDAN, UT (KTVX/CNN) – Police in Utah are investigating after a mother left her 3-year-old at a corn maze and didn’t realize he was missing for 12 hours.
Officers were called to West Jordan’s Annual Crazy Corn Maze Monday night after a good Samaritan noticed a 3-year-old boy "who looked like he was lost" wandering around.
"The staff at the corn maze started announcing that a child had been found. He couldn’t tell us his name. He could say he was three years old was about it. They waited there for a while to see if anybody showed up for the child,” said Sgt. Joe Monson with West Jordan Police.
The 3-year-old spent the night with the Division of Child and Family Services after officers and staff were unable to find the child’s parents.
The boy’s mother didn’t report the missing child until about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 12 hours after he was found at the corn maze.
Police say they received a call from the boy’s mother saying she couldn’t find her 3-year-old.
"She said she believed she might have left him at the corn maze there,” Monson said.
Monson says investigators went to the boy’s home, where multiple families live with approximately 10 or more children.
Police on Tuesday praised the actions of the person who found the boy.
"Noticing that something didn't look right, taking action, notifying our officer so that the child didn't spend the night – with the temperatures we're having – out in the middle of the corn maze with nobody aware of it,” Monson said.
It’s not clear if the child has been placed back in his family’s care. Police and the Division of Child and Family Services are investigating the circumstances behind the incident.
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