By maura dowgin
Staff Writer
Police circulated this picture of Jerry Caridad, 10, in hopes that someone would have information about the boy who was missing for two days.
HOLMDEL — Township police have found a 10-year-old boy who went missing the day before last week’s snowstorm.
The boy was found 9 a.m. Dec. 6 after he emerged from the wooded area behind Holmdel Plaza, said Lt. Tom Vetterl of the Holmdel Police Department.
The boy was walking northbound along the shoulder of Route 35 when he was spotted by both an employee of T.C. Green and a police officer, Vetterl said.
The boy, Jerry Caridad of the Port Monmouth section of Middletown, was shopping with his mother at the Kohl’s department store in Holmdel Plaza on Dec. 4, said Vetterl.
FARRAH MAFFAI The Kohl’s store in Holmdel Plaza from where Jerry Caridad, 10, of Middletown ran away Dec. 4.
The boy was at the jewelry counter of the store with his mother and his sister, Vetterl said, when his mother turned around and discovered he had disappeared.
His mother searched the store, but when her son could not be found, she notified the store’s security, Vetterl said.
The boy’s father was the one who notified police approximately a half-hour after the boy went missing, Vetterl said.
An employee from E.B. Game World, which is also located in the Holmdel Plaza, said he saw Jerry at 7:30 that night, Vetterl said. The employee said he asked the boy if he was lost, and the boy ran out of the store, Vetterl said.
PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI Over 50 sheds and small buildings on the property of Holmdel Fireworks, Route 35, were searched by officers and volunteers in hopes the missing boy was using them for shelter.
"He looks like he had some type of shelter," Vetterl said. This is still under investigation, he said.
"With over 50 sheds on the property, they all had to be checked," said Joe Artelli, the owner of Holmdel Fireworks. "There was no evidence of anyone living there or having broken in."
Artelli said he watched for the boy most of the night.
"The Holmdel police and state troopers worked side by side for two days to search the grid that they felt he had to be in. It was amazing how they worked together to follow the footprints and close in," Artelli said.
"He has done this on several occasions," Vetterl said about Jerry. "Never for this extent of time or in these conditions, though."
Jerry, who was recently adopted, has gone through foster care for most of his life, Vetterl said.
"He’s got some street smarts because the foster care he came from is in the Trenton area," Vetterl said.
Jerry is on medication to control several disorders, Vetterl said.
"He’s an old 10," Vetterl said.
When Jerry was found, he complained of being cold and said he was hungry, Vetterl said.
He was transported to Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, to be examined and treated for exposure, Vetterl said.
"The only thing he complained about is cold feet, but we wanted to have him checked out because he was out and about for 48 hours," Vetterl said.
Volunteers and emergency service units from around the state were enlisted to find the missing boy, Vetterl said.
Staff photographer Farrah Maffai contributed to this story