After nearly 6 months, missing Baltimore boy Tristan King is found

The nearly six-month search for Tristan King came to an end Friday morning in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood.

Baltimore Police found the 9-year-old boy at a house on Filbert Street, not two miles from where he first went missing last September. A tip to missing persons detectives led them there, officials said. The United States Marshals Service assisted in the search.

Tristan had been on and off the streets of South Baltimore through one of the city’s coldest winters on record. No child his age had been missing longer in Maryland.

His grandmother and legal guardian, Donna White, said she broke down and cried when she learned authorities had found Tristan. She’s lived in a nursing home since suffering a stroke last year and hadn’t spoken to or seen Tristan since the day he went missing.

They reunited on the phone Friday morning.

“I told him I want to see him,” White said. “He said he wants to see me, too.”

Authorities took Tristan to a city hospital to be evaluated. Heather Thomas — White’s stepdaughter, who searched for Tristan last fall — said she FaceTimed with Tristan as he was in his hospital room. Tristan was quiet but said he was “good.” His curly hair had grown long. He said he didn’t want to take off his shoes.

Maryland’s Department of Human Services, the agency that originally lost Tristan, will determine where he goes next.

“We are grateful to the law enforcement partners and community members who came together to find Tristan,” Human Services spokesperson Ben Shnider said in a statement. “Now that he has been located, we are focused squarely on making sure that he receives the medical attention and support that he needs.”

Tristan will likely enter the foster care system, but it’s unclear where or under what conditions. Those proceedings are subject to strict confidentiality laws.

Thomas was once ready to take Tristan in, but he may need more support than her family can offer.

“We want him to have what every kid should have,” she said. “I want him to worry about normal kid things, not what he’s going to eat or where he’s going to sleep at night. I want him to go to school and learn to read and everything.”

Authorities believe people were helping Tristan hide, which would partly explain why it took so long to find him.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said the investigation into Tristan’s case is ongoing and suggested there could be criminal charges for “individuals who may have helped conceal Tristan or obstruct law enforcement.”

“I share the relief and gratitude of all of the Baltimoreans who have hoped and prayed for Tristan’s safe return for months,” Scott said.

Tristan’s recovery marks the end of a nearly yearlong series of tragedies for a boy who has had little to no control over his life. The people and systems meant to care for and protect him failed.

The Banner detailed these failings and how they impacted the ensuing search in a report published Wednesday.

Baltimore City Public Schools unenrolled Tristan in May for missing 10 days or more of class, two weeks after White’s stroke.

Messages of concern for Tristan’s well-being sent to Human Services workers often went unacknowledged. When the agency briefly took physical custody of Tristan, he jumped out of his caseworker’s car.

After Tristan went missing in September, Baltimore Police took months to interview people close to him. At one point, the department mistakenly closed his missing persons case.

Police and Human Services policies prevent them from restraining a child Tristan’s age.

U.S. marshals can physically restrain missing children who try to run, and Baltimore Police requested their assistance earlier this year. However, police said they alone recovered Tristan on Friday morning. It’s unclear how the operation unfolded; a spokesperson declined to comment beyond the department’s initial statement.

Before he went missing, Tristan was under his great-aunt Denise Day’s care. Tristan’s home life has long been tumultuous, but it became more so after his grandmother’s stroke.

Day and Tristan’s house burned down in late July, which led to them living in a tent in the alley behind their former home.

Briefly, they stayed at a motel paid for by the state. That ended when Day, who has a drug addiction, turned Tristan over to Human Services.

Gov. Wes Moore pledged to get Tristan the support and care he needs in a statement Friday afternoon.

“We owe Tristan action, not excuses, and we will keep working to make sure no child falls through the cracks like this again,” he said.

This story may be updated.