Atlas Twp.- Two area boys where safe at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, after wandering away from their Gale Road home at about noon.
The boys, Mark and Daniel Wood, ages 9 and 11, were reported missing at about 3:15 p.m. as deputies from the Genesee County Sheriff Department, Michigan State Police, and the FBI, along with about 100 concerned citizens descended on the south west side of Goodrich in the search. The two are of Ukranian descent.
The search ended at about 7 p.m. when Goodrich resident Betty Smith, a former Goodrich school bus driver recognized the pair near Reid Elementary School about three miles from their home.
‘I went out walking at about 4:30 and I saw these two boys out there that looked too small to be out alone,? said Smith.
‘I recognized the youngest boy from when I had my bus route a year ago. So when I returned home my girlfriend said those two were the two boys reported missing. So I drove out to their house on Gale Road and told the mom.?
An FBI agent drove Smith to the location of where she saw the boys near a wooded area between Reid Elementary School and the Goodrich bus garage.
‘The agent walked over and picked the boys up. They were all dirty and looked wet from playing near the Goodrich Mill Pond. There were a lot of kids playing baseball and scattered when all the people showed up.?
‘The boys? dad gave me a thumbs up and the mom hugged me.?
The two had traveled several miles to play with some friends and pick strawberries.
‘The boys are scared but they are fine,? said their father soon after being reunited at Goodrich High School.