Missing 12-Year-Old Boy Finally Rescued From IKEA After Six-Day Search
The nearly week-long hunt for a missing Shanghai boy came to an end Sunday when the 12-year-old was found inside an IKEA store. Peng Yijian ran away from home last week after an argument with his mother, Shanghai Daily reported.
Yijian had been sent home from school for failing to complete a math assignment, and when his mom yelled at him over it, he took off.
"He was very upset and I feel guilty that I shouted at him," she later said.
With only 1.5 yuan (about 25 cents) in his pocket, the boy hung around the city for six days, raiding supermarkets for free samples when he got hungry. And, apparently, spending a lot of time at IKEA.
Police asked Yijian's family to narrow down a list of his favorite places, and eventually they spotted him on a security video near the IKEA location. Cops blocked the exits to the infamously labyrinthine furniture store Sunday and, after 40 minutes of searching, finally found the missing kid near a ground-floor escalator.
As of Monday, Yijian was in the hospital, recovering from symptoms of hunger after his rough week.
