Missing 12-year-old boy found safe

Stephen Holsey, who has autism, was with a caregiver at the park when he walked away after going to the restroom around 5 p.m., his father, Mickey Holsey, said. He went missing near Little River Parkway and Guess Road.

Stephen was found by a deputy just after 8 p.m. about five miles away at Becky Lane and Rougemount Road near Hopkins Road, authorities said. 

Mickey Holsey said his son is fine. 

"He's a lot more self sufficient then most people realize. He probably got a little cold," Mickey Holsey said. "Once he got on the road, that part worried me. But when I thought he was in the woods, I didn't have any worries at all." 

Nearly 100 law enforcement personnel and volunteers helped with the search for Stephen.

"When you've got a child and to compound that a child with a disability, your heart goes out to the parents and all the folks who helped us find me all afternoon. I am extremely relieved," Orange County Sheriff's Maj. Charles Blackwood said.