Boy, 6, found a mile away in Elgin

A six-year-old boy managed to sneak away from an Elgin public library and make it more than a mile before police found him Monday night.

Gail Borden Public Library staff placed the building, 270 N. Grove Ave., on lockdown for nearly 45 minutes while police, library staffers and the boy’s mother searched inside and out for the young child, said Elgin Police spokeswoman Sue Olafson.

The boy’s mother alerted library staff members that he was missing, and they called 911 at around 6:49 p.m., Olafson said.

The boy was found about 30 minutes later on the 200 block of National Street, she said,

The boy, who was at the library with his mother and sister, was found by en Elgin police officer, Olafson said.

“The library did an outstanding job of following protocol to make sure the boy was found,” she said.