'Junior Detectives' help find missing 97-year-old woman

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Updated

A group of neighborhood friends is being called "junior detectives" and heroes, for taking the initiative to hop on their bikes and help find a missing woman.

On Monday, the City of Roseville, California Police Department, issued an alert for a missing woman, Glenneta Belford, 97. According to a Facebook post by the police, Belford has dementia and is mostly non-verbal.

As members of the community helped police look for the woman, four young friends created their own search party.

Logan Hultman, 10, and his friends, Kashton, Hope, and Mackenna, were quick to join the efforts.

"They dedicated their afternoon and early into their night to help somebody in need and I think they understood the severity of the situation, just how dangerous it was," Logan's mother, Alyssa Hultman, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. "They understood [Belford] was in danger and it was a reality that she needed to be found."

At one point during the search, Logan, speeding down a hill, fell off his bike. The friends regrouped at his house where his older brother helped patch him up before heading back out to continue their search.

"They were willing to take their time and canvas the neighborhood, even after falling down, getting hurt, and hitting some roadblocks,” Alyssa tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “They went back out and continued to make that effort. I think it’s really amazing what they did. I'm extremely proud."

It wasn't long after the group returned to the streets that they spotted Belford. Hope, 11, called 911 and police were able to reunite Belford with her family. A representative of the Roseville Police Department did not return a media request from Yahoo Lifestyle.

“This is a great example of our exceptional community coming together to lend a helping hand. This proves a great point, age is just a number, and anyone can help out in a time of need,” the police wrote on Facebook, including a photo of the crew, from left to right, Logan, Kashton, Mackenna, and Hope. The little one is Kashton and Hope's brother, Crew, who couldn't help but share in their victory when the photo was taken.

While they have been receiving plenty of praise online and lots of media attention, the kids are all a bit confused.

"The kids have all told me that they’re kind of surprised and that they don’t deserve the attention. They feel they just did something that they feel everyone should do—they helped someone in need," Allyson says. “That says a lot about their character and the families they’ve been raised in. They decided to go help somebody, as a neighborhood crew, our junior detectives."

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