FBI: Washington State Boy, Missing Since June, Found in Missouri

A Washington boy who had been missing since June was recovered on Friday in Missouri, the FBI has announced.

The FBI Seattle Field Office wrote on January 23 that they were looking for Breadson John, a boy who had been missing since June.

“On June 17, 2022, the Vancouver Police Department in Vancouver, Washington, attempted to conduct a welfare check at the residence of Breadson John, but were unable to locate him,” the post read.

On Tuesday, the Seattle FBI released an update via Twitter, writing, “On Feb. 17, Breadson was successfully recovered!”

On Feb. 17, Breadson was successfully recovered! Thank you to our partners for their hard work: @FBIKansasCity, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, and @VancouverPDUSA. https://t.co/ECgbwrxc8b pic.twitter.com/RkPbQdA6fx

— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) February 22, 2023

In January, KGW 8 noted there had been no known developments in the case in seven months.

“To date, the family members that have been contacted have not provided investigators information related to the whereabouts of Breadson and he has not been located,” the outlet quoted a statement from Vancouver Police. 

KPIC quoted FBI Seattle spokesperson Steve Bernd as saying the boy “had been left in the care of his grandparents.” Bernd said the boy’s grandparents “claimed that Breadson was not missing” and “were just not cooperative with the investigation.” 

An FBI Most Wanted page shared in the Seattle office’s January tweet indicated the boy was eight years old, of Pacific Islander descent, and spoke the Trukese/Chuukese language in addition to English.

It further noted the boy sometimes used the name “‘Brxsan” and had “ties to or may visit Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, and the Truk/Chuuk Islands in the Federated States of Micronesia.” 

On Friday, the boy was found in Missouri and placed in the custody of the Missouri Department of Social Services, per KPIC.

KGW 8 reported the FBI “learned that John had been taken to Jasper County, Missouri in August.”

“Breadson’s recovery would not have been possible without the combined efforts of the Vancouver Police Department, FBI Kansas City, and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office,” KPIC quoted Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, as saying. “We are relieved at this outcome and how quickly we were able to resolve it.”

KGW 8 reported that, as of Wednesday, officials from Washington Child Protective Services were traveling to Missouri to take custody of the child.