Two Boys Missing For About 12 Hours, Back Home Safe and Sound

Two North Reading families are breathing easier today after their young sons, missing for more than 12 hours, were located and returned home safe and sound.

The boys, whom Police Chief Michael Murphy declined to identify because they are juveniles, left together of their own free will and were reported missing by their parents around 9 p.m. Saturday.

Police called in assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, K9 units and the State Police Airwing search unit. According to a Massachusetts Emergency Alert, the search originated in the Lowell Road area.

The overnight search turned up nothing. However, according to Murphy, the boys flagged down a car in Wilmington at around 9 a.m. Sunday morning. The motorist called North Reading Police, which sent a unit to retrieve the boys and reunite them with their relieved families.

Murphy declined to provide any additional details, such as where the boys had spent the night. Murphy said that since there was no crime committed, it was more of a family matter than a police matter.