Non-verbal autistic teen missing in Arizona found nearly 200 miles away in New Mexico
DEMING, N.M. (KRQE) – A 13-year-old teen, who is described by his family as being a non-verbal autistic child, was reported missing and found nearly 200 miles away from home in Deming, New Mexico.
The teen named Marcus was last seen at his family’s home in Tucson, Arizona, on Monday night. “My mom woke up, and he was no longer in the house. The front door was unlocked, and he was just gone,” said Marcus’ brother, Mikel Desmond.
Marcus’ family contacted the police, searched nearby areas in the community, and created a missing person flyer that they shared on social media. As the hours passed on Tuesday and new leads were exhausted, Desmond said he started to lose hope of finding his brother. “Him being nonverbal, if someone would give him a phone, [and say] ‘hey, call your, you know, call your family’ and, you know, he’s not really able to do that,” Desmond said.
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Everything changed when Desmond got a call from New Mexico around 7 p.m. Tuesday and heard that Marcus was found. “I talked to the officer, I talked to a nurse there, and honestly, they had trouble getting me to believe it. And they were able to identify him [Marcus],” said Desmond.
The family was skeptical of the good news at first because they received several scam calls from people pretending to have Marcus or knowing where he was. “I thought they [the caller] were just looking at the flyer that I posted online. And I asked them to video call me, and they video called me, and it was Marcus sitting there in the hospital with them. And he was safe,” Desmond explained.
The Deming Police Department said Marcus was found at the Walmart at 1021 East Pine Street. Desmond said Marcus tried to buy food and drinks, but he didn’t have any money. The teen then reportedly went to hide in the bathroom and was later found by law enforcement.
Marcus was taken to Mimbres Memorial Hospital where Deming and New Mexico State Police tried to identify the teen. New Mexico State Police shared a photo of Marcus on social media, and within seven minutes, someone recognized him from the Tucson Police Department’s social media post about the missing teen.
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“It’s amazing how fast news can spread through social media,” said Desmond. “And we never would have thought that we would have had so many people reach out and ask ways they can help.” The family drove three hours each way to pick up Marcus and bring him back to Tucson.
Marcus’ family said they have no idea how he got to Deming. Tucson police said they are investigating his travels.
