A Louisiana man was arrested after authorities said he locked his neighbor’s son in his bathroom, then made up a story about the 6-year-old boy leaving the neighborhood.
David Ledet, 59, is charged with kidnapping following a search for the missing child Wednesday, WAFB reports.
The boy’s mother called 911 around 6 p.m. to report that her son was gone, authorities said. The woman told police that her son was playing outside on the front lawn when she went to use the restroom. When she returned, the boy was gone.
Deputies immediately began searching the area and nearby homes for the child. Within an hour, the sheriff’s office said deputies found the boy locked in a bathroom inside Ledet’s apartment.
Authorities said that while they were searching for the boy, Ledet told the child’s mother that he saw her son leave in a white vehicle. Police pressed Ledet for more information, and his suspicious response prompted them to search his house.
“Deputies decided to search the home and pretty quickly found the six-year-old locked in a bathroom,” Sheriff Jack Strain told WWL.
The exact location of Ledet’s home is being withheld to protect the child’s identity.
