The two-year-old boy who went missing in Locorotondo has been found. The child is fine and has been taken to the hospital for checks. According to what the mayor of Locorotondo, Antonio Bufano, reported, he was found a few kilometers from the house where he lives with his family, in the Serralta area, just a short distance from the town center. In the photo that captures the joy of his discovery, he is in the arms of the rescuers.
“He is fine and has been taken to the hospital for checks,” reassured the mayor of Locorotondo, Antonio Bufano. “He has some scrapes on his face,” he added, “but fortunately, he is fine.” A few small blood spots on his face, his legs dirty from the dust of a day that no one in the village will forget. Because the scent of the tracking dogs, the buzzing of helicopter rotors, and the harsh sound of ambulance sirens marked an entire afternoon where everyone did their best to find him.
The law enforcement forces and the entire community of Locorotondo, in the province of Bari, have been mobilized since noon today to find the child who seemed to have disappeared into thin air while playing near his home in the countryside.
From disappearance to the frantic phases of the search
At 11 in the morning, the mother peeked into the garden to check on her little boy who was playing, but little Domenico had wandered off. She immediately called 112, triggering the rescue operation, with the participation of firefighters, carabinieri, local police, and volunteer citizens. Drones and helicopters from the Navy were also deployed, along with volunteers from the Alpine and Speleological Rescue. The parents, who had shared a photo of the child on social media with a description of the clothing he wore this morning, were joined by Mayor Antonio Bufano, who actively participated in the search efforts. The mayor, who turns 68 today, confessed that he cried upon hearing the news. At 7:15 PM, a sigh of relief: the child was spotted by the owner of a screen-printing shop who immediately raised the alarm.
Missing child in Locorotondo, province of Bari (Ansa/Facebook)
The boy’s father: grateful to the locals
“I want to thank all my fellow citizens of Locorotondo, who made themselves available. I will never stop being grateful to you.” These are the words of the father of little Domenico, who, moved, tries to come to terms with what has happened in recent hours in front of the cameras. The youngest son, who will turn two in September, wandered away from their home, a country house in the Serralta area, in Locorotondo, in the heart of the Itria Valley. Domenico, quickly recovered by the carabinieri who followed the investigations, is believed to have walked about four kilometers from his home and was found precisely in the countryside near a very busy road heading towards Laureto. “He has some scrapes on his face,” Bufano reported, “but luckily, he is fine.” The little one was transported by an ambulance from 118 to a local hospital for the necessary checks.