A staff member chased after him and a good Samaritan spotted the boy walking on the sidewalk along South Barron Street.
Within a minute another dispatcher received a call from a woman, who had found the child less than a half mile from the day care.
“I found a little kid walking,” the woman told police. “All he wants is his mommy.”
Both police and the day care’s owner called the incident a fluke.
"We've been doing this a long time and never had anything like this happen,” said Karen Charles, owner of the Eaton Day Care "I think my staff handled it well."
Charles said the day care reviewed surveillance video of the incident to determine if any issues needed addressed, and found the staff members did everything right.
According to a police report, Eaton officers were notified of a boy missing from the day care around 9:50 a.m.
“(The worker) stated that the children were all sitting down together and wen she turned to grab some papers (the boy) got up and left the room,” the report read. “(The worker) states she noticed he was gone within one or two minutes and immediately went outside the front of the building to find him.”
The worker spotted the boy, but once she called out for him, he took off running, according to the report.
The day care has been in contact with the boy’s mother regarding the incident and police said no charges are expected.
Charles said the day care is working on educating the children on following directions following the incident, but does not plan on implementing any procedure changes.
“We do not want to lock children in,” Charles said, adding that they don’t lock children inside in case they need to evacuate for an emergency.
According to state records, Eaton Day Care has received a three-star rating for Step Up to Quality. That rating means the administrator and teachers have higher education qualifications and complete 20 hours of specialized training every two years.
The only early care and education programs that have higher ratings in Preble County are Preble County Public Preschool and Hollingsworth East Head Start, state records show. Both obtained five-star ratings for Step Up to Quality.
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