Reporter Finds Missing Child In Florida; Emotional Video Shows Reunion With Family

Most reporters spend their time telling other people’s stories, but rarely find themselves being a part of their own news reports. But as WFTS-TV reporter Cameron Polom found out recently, reporters can easily find themselves caught up in the stories they are covering.

Polom was assigned to cover the case of Paul Ezekiel Fagan, who had gone missing from his Tampa home. Then according to industry blog T.V. Spy, the reporter found the missing child he was reporting on.

“I said, ‘Have you been missing?’… Come here, buddy,’ and I just picked him up and I said, ‘Would you mind if I lift you up?’… And I just said, ‘Come with me.’ I just held his hand and walked him over to you guys (the police). It’s crazy.”

A reporter finding a missing child is just too crazy, right? That apparently was the same thought going through Polom’s mind, according to a quote attributed to Polom in ABC News‘ report on the reporter finding the missing child.

“I thought to myself oh this couldn’t be the boy, no way, and I walked over and said, ‘Hey bud what’s your name?’ He mumbled Paul and then I asked if I could pick him up over the fence and he gave me a huge hug before we walked over to the officers parked in front of his house.”

According to the ABC News report on the reporting finding the missing child, Fagan told him that after he went missing, he spent the night in his neighbor’s backyard “that’s riddled with overgrown vegetation, which made him hard to spot by previous search efforts.” ABC News also said Fagan had taken a cat nap in shrubs.

This case of the reporter finding the missing child in his own neighborhood may seem unusual, but it is far from the first time it has happened. The Inquisitr has reported numerous times on children being found close to home. Among the most unusual instances of a child being safely brought home was in June 2013, when a girl reported missing was found safe under her bed. The child, a 4-year-old from Richmond, Calif., had apparently been hidden by several objects surrounding her under the bed. She went undetected for quite some time in spite of search efforts at the home, which later extended out from the family’s Richmond residence.

To watch the emotional reunion of Fagan with his family, watch the YouTube video of Polom’s report above.

[Image via Screenshot]