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Search continues for teen missing since Friday

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - 6/3/2020

Jun. 2--CORINTH -- Multiple law enforcement agencies in two states continue to search for a missing autistic boy who walked away from an Alcorn County boys home.

Nathan Covarrubias, 14, was reported missing Friday afternoon from Summit's View, a boarding school for troubled boys located on County Road 772 in the extreme northwest corner of the county. The school is about 500 feet away from the Tennessee state line and a half-mile from the Tippah County line.

Covarrubias, is 5'7" tall, weighs about 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing a blue long sleeve shirt and khaki shorts. According to a family member, Covarrubias has autism and disruptive mood dysregulation, and is bipolar.

The search for the teen expanded over the weekend to include searches both on the ground and the air. The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office brought their drone that includes an infrared camera to allow officials to search for body heat patterns at night.

There are more than 20 ponds within a 1,000-yard radius of the school and were of particular interest to searchers, said Alcorn County Sheriff Ben Caldwell.

"We have checked all the ponds and did an extensive search," Caldwell said. "There are no tracks going into ponds. Thankfully, we had a lot of rain last week and the ground is still soft so tracks would be more visible."

A flyer distributed around the area says the boy was reported missing between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on May 29. School officials did not contact law enforcement until around 7 p.m. that night, according to Alcorn County Sheriff Ben Caldwell. Officials initially felt the boy had run away, so the media was not contacted until Sunday.

"There is a different protocol for dealing with missing/abducted children and runaways," Caldwell said. "This has happened before. We located those boys within 24 to 48 hours. They were walking down the road or stopped at a gas station.

"When he was not located in that initial period, it transitioned from a runaway to a missing person. We still believe he is missing. There is no indication that any harm has come to the boy."

After news that Covarrubias was missing hit social media, law enforcement began getting calls from people who thought they saw him over the weekend.

"We've had some possible sightings in Tippah County reported to us (Monday) but we haven't been able to confirm it was him," Caldwell said. "We have identified one person walking in Falkner Saturday was not him. But there was more than one person seen that might have been him."

Authorities say it is possible that Covarrubias, who is shy but can communicate with strangers, might have tried to hitch a ride home to Texas.

Covarrubias' parents in Fort Worth, Texas did not learn of his disappearance until Saturday morning. They arrived in northeast Mississippi the same day to help search for their child.

The Walnut police and the Tippah and Hardeman (Tennessee) county sheriff's offices have joined in the search efforts. Caldwell said the Mississippi Highway Patrol and "countless other agencies and groups" are helping with the search.

Anyone with information about Covarrubias' whereabouts can call the Alcorn County Sheriff's Office at (662) 286-5521 or the Walnut Police Department at (662) 837-9336.

william.moore@journalinc.com

Twitter:@WilliamMoore_DJ

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