Autistic, non-verbal toddler located safe after disappearing from Round Mountain home

ROUND MOUNTAIN, Calif., — Authorities say a 3-year-old boy described as autistic and non-verbal was found safe and unharmed after the toddler disappeared from his Round Mountain home Monday evening, Oct. 25. Officials have reported the boy disappeared while walking the rural mountain property with his father.

The boy’s father has since said the child had never wandered off in the past, saying this behavior was new for him; and that he would be taking appropriate measures to ensure his son would never be able to wander off again in the future.

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Deputies from the Burney Sheriff’s Station were alerted to the crisis shortly before 5 p.m. when the boy’s father made a frantic 911 call and reported his son had disappeared from his Round Mountain area property, southwest of Montgomery Creek.

“The boy and his father had been outside walking around their property and within minutes the boy, who is autistic and non-verbal, could not be found,” Shasta County Sheriff’s officials said after the search; adding, “The property is surrounded by heavy brush and vegetation and Cedar Creek runs just south of the home.”

Due to the danger and missing boy’s at-risk factors, a CHP – Northern Division Air Ops helicopter crew responded to the scene to assist with searching for the toddler from overhead, while deputies searched the home and property from the ground.

Deputies eventually heard the missing boy crying and followed the sounds of the child’s cries down a nearby hillside where they found him unharmed.

After being reunited with his father, the grateful dad told deputies his son had never been prone to wandering off before and that he plans on increasing security measures at his home and obtaining a wearable GPS transmitter to track his son’s movements.

Deputies also entered a photo of the boy in their mobile computers in case of a future incident.

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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.