Missing Holladay teen with autism located
Oct 25, 2022, 7:43 PM | Updated: Oct 26, 2022, 8:29 am
UPDATE: Unified police say Devin Meadows has been located. Other than being a little cold, he is OK.
Original story continues below.
SALT LAKE COUNTY — Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a 16-year-old boy who has autism and is at the mental level of a 6-year-old.
According to a Facebook post from the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, Devin Meadows, who goes by DJ, is missing from the area of Spring Lane in Holladay.
“Devin went to check the mail about 3 p.m. and did not return,” the post stated.
He was last seen wearing blue shorts and a camouflage long-sleeve shirt.
Police say he has a shaved head, different from the photo available.
According to police, Meadows had been in trouble at school and they were talking about discipline when he ran off.
(Andrew Adams/KSL TV)
Tuesday night, police deployed a drone that’s equipped with cameras that see at night. It also has a speaker that has been barking out messages like, “DJ, you are not in trouble. Please go home.” And “DJ, it’s mom. Dinner’s ready for you. It’s cold outside. Come home, man.”
“It’s a new program for the Unified Police Department,” said Lt. Paul Barker. “We’ve had success catching bad guys and we’ve sent it out on some missing people and runaways and stuff like that. We’re starting to utilize technology wherever we can.”
As the drone is projecting out those messages, it’s helping police search by air and come up with points of interest from above that officers can check out down on the ground. So they’re employing that with door-knocking and grid-searching that has been going on for the past couple hours.
Anyone with information on Meadows’ whereabouts has been asked to call police at 801-840-4000 and reference case number 22-105316.
