Aug 7, 2013 3 min read

A 9-year-old Canonsburg boy who disappeared from outside his home Tuesday night was found about five hours later and seven miles away inside his grandparents’ Cecil Township home.

The disappearance of Andrew Margerum triggered a massive search that involved not only police and firefighters but also a search dog and automated telephone calls to residents in the area giving the boy’s information from a national organization that helps find missing children.

Canonsburg police Detective Sgt. Al Coghill said Andrew disappeared after taking the trash outside of his family’s apartment at 29 E. Pitt St. His mother, Melissa Margerum, first noticed the boy missing about 8:30 p.m. She checked the area around their home and called police about 9:30 p.m.

Although it was not clear why the boy left his house, Coghill said it was treated as a missing child investigation.

“Our initial concern was for his safety because of the heavily wooded area,” Coghill said. “There was no evidence of an abduction.”

A command post was set up and Canonsburg volunteer firefighters joined in the search. Also a call was put out to neighboring police departments for available manpower. Several off-duty officers as well as residents joined the search.

A state police helicopter used infrared technology to search the wooded area, and a dog from Canine Aided Emergency Search and Rescue was brought in to assist in the search.

Coghill also contacted a national organization, A Child is Missing. The organization sent out about 400 automated calls to houses in the area of the boy’s home with his information, including a description of clothing.

Police got a call from one witness who remembered seeing a boy matching Andrew’s description walking along Route 980 near the Turtle Twist.

Andrew was found by a family friend about 2:15 a.m. at his grandparents’ home on Route 50, about seven miles from his residence. His grandparents were not home because they were involved in the search.

Police Chief R.T. Bell said Wednesday that he was amazed by the cooperation of everyone who came to help search for the boy.

Coghill said this is the first time his department has needed to use the service of A Child is Missing. Sherry Friedlander, the founder and CEO of the organization, said they are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help police look not only for children but elderly or mentally challenged people who have gone missing.

“We typically send out calls to homes within about a half-mile radius of the missing person’s home after police have confirmed that the person is missing,” Friedlander said.

The nonprofit organization, founded in 1997, has been operating in Pennsylvania since 2005.

Calls are placed to land lines but can also be made to cellphones that have been registered with the organization at www.achildismissing.org.

Other police departments assisting in the search included Houston and Cecil, Chartiers, North Strabane and Peters townships.