Burien couple rescues child found wandering barefoot on busy street
BURIEN, Wash. - A Burien couple rescued a child that was found wandering alone on a busy street Wednesday, without a parent or caregiver in sight.
The child was found barefoot off of Des Moines Memorial Drive South near 112th, wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, despite the cold temperatures.
"I saw the little boy walking this way," said Marcos Melendez of Burien, pointing to a stretch of sidewalk across the street from his apartment complex.
Marcos had just returned home from work on Wednesday morning when he spotted the toddler wandering on the busy stretch of road.
"He had a t-shirt on and shorts on, no shoes, no socks," said Marcos.
Marcos says the boy stopped briefly at a fenced in parking area before walking between some cars, then making his way towards the dangerous intersection.
"I saw him getting ready to turn on Military," said Marcos. "That's when I ran across the street and called for him and said, ‘Hey buddy, come here’. He came right to me, and then he wanted me to pick him up immediately."
With nobody else in sight, Marcos tried to comfort him and called his wife Candace and the police.
"He actually put his head on my shoulder for a while," said Marcos.
"I noticed the kid had no shoes and no socks on, and he was clung to my husband," said Candance Melendez.
Candace, who works with children regularly, said his hair was matted in the back, and the boy appeared to have what looked like bug bites on some areas of his hands and feet.
"I noticed the palms of his hands and his wrists had a lot of insect or bug bites on them too, and the same thing on his feet and ankles, but nothing up the legs or the arms," said Candace.
The two kept him warm in their truck, speaking both in English and Spanish to him, but the boy couldn't share his name.
"I’ve never seen children walk up this street, and I’ve grown up in Boulevard Park all my life. We are both life-time residents here," said Candace.
The couple is pictured below near the spot where they found the child,.
Paramedics took the child in for treatment. Burien police and the King County Sheriff's Office both responded, along with Child Protective Services.
"I don’t know if I really feel like a hero, I’m just glad he’s safe," said Marcos.
The couple says they don't feel like heroes, adding that doing the right thing is rewarding enough.
"I’m just glad that he’s OK now. That was basically what my biggest concern was, was that he was going to be OK," said Marcos. "This isn’t the best-est of neighborhoods either. So, walking around here by himself is not safe."
"We were doing what was right, we know for our moral compass what we did for that child was the best thing we could possibly do," said Candace.
FOX 13 reached out to Burien police and the King County Sheriff's Office for any additional updates. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office says that they likely won't be available until Monday.
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