UPDATE: Missing Pierce County teen found safe

UPDATE:

Missing teen Josiah Hokanson has been found. A family representative said Josiah was found in Portland, Oregon.

The 16-year-old hadn't been seen since Tuesday when he left Aviation High School in Tukwila and hopped on a bus to head home.

Josiah’s father told Q13 News Thursday, his son has Asperger syndrome and is very trusting of strangers. He also said up until his son’s disappearance there was nothing out of the ordinary.

In a tweet, the Tukwila police thanked everyone who assisted with locating Josiah.






LAKE TAPPS, Wash. -- The search is underway for a missing 16-year-old boy from Sumner. Josiah Hokanson hasn’t been seen since Tuesday when he left Aviation High School in Tukwila and hopped on a bus after school to head home.

He never made it there.

Volunteers are now coming together to organize search parties to help find him.

Lake Tapps Community Church has been transformed into a volunteer command center, with all hands on deck to find Josiah.

“It’s November, and he’s not ready to be out in the cold or if he was abducted or something, we are very concerned,” said Reuben Hokanson, Josiah’s father.

Volunteers have been scouring all the activity on Josiah’s social media sites, and Thursday a search was conducted for him in the woods near White River at Game Farm Park. Those that love him say every minute counts.

Josiah’s father says up until his son’s disappearance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He says his son, who has Asperger syndrome, is very trusting of strangers.

“He was kind of too trusting, which is why we’re worried,” said Reuben Hokanson.

Wherever he is, this father is begging for his safe return.

Tukwila Police has released a missing person flier, which describes the teen as 5’10”, 120 pounds and was last seen wearing a dark-colored hoodie, a gray dress shirt and slacks.

Investigators say because the circumstances are unusual and this is out of character for Josiah, they are taking this very seriously and haven’t ruled out any leads.