About 50 law enforcement officers were searching Monday night for an 11-year-old boy who had not returned home from his Tucson school.
Pima County deputies learned shortly before 6:30 p.m. that Larry Avila had not arrived home from Valencia Middle School, 4400 W. Irvington Road, said Deputy Tom Peine, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.
The boy was last seen at the school at 4 p.m. Monday, Peine said.
Deputies worked closely with Tucson Unified School District officials but were unsuccessful in finding Larry, Peine said.
The Sheriff's Department set up a command post Monday night in a rural area on the city's southwest side, west of South Kinney Road and north of West Ajo Way, near the child's home, which is in the 9000 block of West Delfina Drive.
The boy usually takes a bus home from school. There was some confusion for TUSD school buses Monday afternoon because of flooding on the far southwest side from the day's storm, which led to some closed roads, Peine said.
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Searchers were looking at "all possibilities," he said, including whether Larry took the wrong bus, fell asleep on a bus or went somewhere with friends. Peine had heard that the family is new to the area.
The searchers were scouring the neighborhood late Monday night, with the help of a Border Patrol search-and-rescue unit agent and a K-9. They also were retracing bus routes and stops and talking to Larry's friends.
The child is described as thin and about 4 feet 3 inches tall. He has brown hair and eyes, and was last seen wearing his school uniform: a blue shirt and brown shorts. Anyone with information on him is asked to call 911.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at 573-4104 or cduarte@azstarnet.com
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