NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. Lee County deputies found a 2-year-old boy wandering alone in the Suncoast Estates community Saturday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The boy was spotted near Gish Lane and McDaniel Drive wearing only a diaper, neighbors said. He was covered in scratches, bites and bruises, prompting neighbors to call 911.
The boy’s mother put him to bed around 11 p.m. Friday night and didn’t realize he was missing until this morning, according to deputies.
Russel Cowart, the boy’s father, claims he wasn’t gone for long before the sheriff’s office received the call.
“I got up this morning at 9:30,” he said. “At 9:55, I left the house to go to work and my video surveillance cameras all around my house show at 10:05, he was unlocking the front door, letting my dog out to play (and) to use the bathroom.”
Cowart added that the boy stayed in the front yard and was never wandering the streets.