Missing boy found eight hours later

A 10-year-old Huntington Beach boy was found Friday afternoon almost eight hours after he went missing.

Authorities found the boy at 4:10 p.m. hiding in a yard in the residential tract next to Circle View School. The boy ran away from his parent’s car at 8:30 a.m. Friday while being dropped off at Circle View.

The Huntington Beach Police Department on Friday issued an emergency notification on AlertOC to the northern section of Huntington Beach after an initial search failed to find the boy.

During the search, the boy’s mother left Circle View saying she needed to go home, but officers found her playing tennis at Murdy Park.

She initially refused to return to the school and when she did, she made unusual remarks about the boy’s well-being, officials said.

The mother was taken into police custody and put on a mental health evaluation hold at a hospital.

When the boy was finally found, he and his two brothers were put in the care of the Orange County Social Services.

—Britney Barnes