CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A bus driver for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System found a 7-year-old boy early Thursday morning who had been missing during the overnight hours after running away from home.
Ayden Price was reported missing Wednesday night after he ran away, according to the Clarksville Police Department.
“Ayden got into trouble with his mother and ran out the door wearing only grey shorts (no shoes or shirt). The mother notified the Clarksville Police Department just after midnight and several officers are searching the area,” CPD spokesman Scott Beaubien said this morning.
According to a news release from CMCSS, bus driver Stephanie Dollich spotted the child while doing her route.
“This morning, while I was doing my route, I was looking for (the child). I was extra cautious this morning after seeing the Clarksville Police Department’s message (on social media),” Dollich said in the release.
Around 6:45 a.m., Dollich spotted a child walking down the sidewalk who matched the description given by CPD. CMCSS did not name the child, but the time and circumstances were the same.
Dollich stopped and opened her bus door, and then asked the child’s name. When it was confirmed to be the missing child, she encouraged him to board her bus, the news release said.
The bus aide then wrapped the boy in a blanket as Dollich radioed CMCSS dispatchers to contact 911. The police came to meet the bus and took the child home, according to the news release.
“We’re all trained to be very aware of our surroundings. It could have been any one of us (bus drivers),” Dollich said in the news release. “That’s my job, to keep students safe to school and to go home.”
Dollich has been a driver for CMCSS for 13 years, and transports students to the Tennessee School for the Blind. “I love all my students,” she said. “I feel great that I was in the right place at the right time.”
Involved in the search were CPD, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office K-9 officers and troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Beaubien said.