BELDING, Mich. — As police searched Devon Morrison’s Belding home, community members held a candlelight vigil for the missing 10-year-old. Both events took place simultaneously Sunday night.
Morrison lives two blocks from the Flat River. Those who know him say he spends much of his free time fishing in the river, but Saturday night he didn’t come home.
“He always goes fishing in this area. Sometimes he goes fishing on this side of the river. His favorite spot is over where the park is,” explained Lucy Robinson, a friend of Devon’s brother.
“He`s always been real good when it comes to coming back like he`s supposed to. He`s never had a problem. This is very unusual, very unusual for him to go fishing and not come back, very unusual.”
Police said Morrison left Saturday morning around 10:30 to fish and was last spotted around 2:30 Saturday afternoon in downtown Belding. According to police, family reported him missing around 10 p.m. A search for Devon began Sunday around 3 a.m.
Belding Police Chief Dale Nelson said, “This morning we did some searches of the river with scuba teams and searched the banks of the river.”
Nelson said devices the Kent County Sheriff’s Department provided devices that allowed crews to perform sonar radar checks of the bottom of the river. Divers also went into the water but “did not discover anything conclusive.”
Around 6:30 a.m., a state police helicopter took to the air to search the river. MSP used an infrared camera but did not find anything.
At 9 a.m., uniformed officers began going door to door to question residents. As of 11:30 a.m., Chief Nelson said the FBI joined the investigation.
“This has really gotten everybody shook up,” Robinson said.
She said Devon is a happy-go-lucky kid. He`s got a lot of friends in school, and he`s well-liked. Robinson explained to FOX 17 that Devon`s older brother is concerned that Devon`s easy going personality may be taken advantage of.
“[Devon is] pretty much able to walk off with somebody. If somebody was able to come up and lure him somewhere and say, `Hey ya know, let`s go check this out,’ he`s really up to doing that and that`s the scary part.”
FOX 17 spoke with Devon`s brother Scott on the phone.
We asked Scott what his biggest concern was. He replied, “That he`s still alive, really.”
“This hits home for me because Devon played baseball with my son this past summer, so I know Devon,” Nelson said, “It’s very concerning for me to know that Devon’s out there somewhere, and we need to find him. We need to bring him home.”
The chief said the search for Morrison will resume Monday morning.
