Columbia police found missing 9-month-old Zayden Scruggs safe and unharmed on Saturday evening, and arrested 32-year-old Lillian Scruggs for abuse or neglect of a child. The child’s disappearance from a home on Claudell Lane triggered a public safety alert before a person known to the family returned him.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, officers were dispatched to a report of a missing child at risk at 6:18 p.m. on Saturday. The infant’s grandmother told investigators she left Zayden at the home with his mother earlier in the day, around 3 p.m. When she returned at approximately 6 p.m., the boy was gone.
As officers investigated the timeline, they came to believe someone may have found Zayden alone inside the residence and removed him for his safety. At 8:03 p.m., the department issued a public safety alert regarding the missing child. Shortly after that alert went out, someone familiar with the child brought him back to the residence.
Columbia Police spokesperson Colin Imhoff told KOMU 8 at 8:14 p.m. that the infant had been located. Authorities subsequently took Lillian Scruggs into custody on the child neglect and abuse charges as the investigation continued.
Emergency Alerts Issued Without Amber Alert
Police noted that the circumstances surrounding Zayden’s disappearance did not meet Missouri’s specific criteria for issuing an Amber Alert. Instead, the department utilized alternative notification tools to alert the local community.
Officers deployed a missing endangered person advisory, pushed out a wireless emergency alert to mobile devices in the area, and published details across department social media channels.
The investigation remains active as local authorities review the events leading up to the infant being left unattended.
