A 9-year-old Pomona boy reported missing after he did not return home Wednesday night from a friend's house was reunited with his family after an overnight search that ended with hugs and an apology.
Christian Stewart left his home at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and did not come back, his mother told NBC4. The boy had been staying at a friend's house, but did not tell his parents, according to the family.
When asked why he didn't call his parents, the boy said because the family with which he was staying told him their phone "was not charged."
"I'm ok," Christian said after exiting the back of police car in front of his home Thursday morning.
The boy's tearful mother said she was "thankful" her son is safe, but that he is "grounded until college." Surrounded by television crews, the boy apologized to his mother and grandmother and gave them hugs.
Christian was last seen Wednesday outside his home in the 500 block of 591 Twelfth Street in Pomona wearing black shorts and a black "Quicksilver" T-shirt, according to the Pomona Police Department. He had gone to friend's house to get a hair cut, according to his mother.
"When he wasn't here between 8:30, 9, we started calling everybody," said mother Jody Coover. "We couldn't find him anywhere and nobody had seen him."
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Friends, family members and police conducted a search and posted information about the boy in the neighborhood.
Another mother with whom Coover exchanged text messages informed her that several children, who were on their way to school, told her that Christian was at the friend's house.The location is just blocks from Coover's home.
"At this point, he's grounded, but I'm so not going to yell at him," said Coover.
The boy's grandmother told NBC4 her family does not know the family with which Christian was staying.
"Somebody's parents didn't think that they should call us, which I think is absurd," said the boy's grandmother. "Something wasn't right there."
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