Teen Found Living In Wal-Mart Has A History Of Running Away

CORSICANA (CBSDFW.COM) – Police say the boy found living in a Corsicana Wal-Mart has a history of running away.

The 14-year-old boy, who lives in Rice, Texas, set up shop in a 24-hour Wal-Mart store for a couple of days in July.

According to his family, the teen has run away from home several times and has been found hiding in abandoned buildings, creeks and businesses.

Wal-Mart is the latest business where the teen chose to hide. Pictures provided to CBS 11 News show the hidden living quarters crafted by the boy, who ran away from his aunt's house, where he was visiting while his parents were out of town.

Sources inside the store offered images of the areas where the teen apparently slept, ate and changed clothes, unbeknownst to shoppers or employees.

Police confirm the teen was listed as a runaway on July 28. Two nights later, store staffers found him here.

Now shoppers question the quality of security, or lack of it, inside the store.

"If he was able to do that, what about a terrorist?" questions Corsicana resident Betty Ary.

"Today's predators, you never know, they pry on the weak, and they see a 14-year-old child do this," said Wal-Mart shopper Steve Raney. "Of course there's a security situation that could be detrimental to your children as well."

Wal-Mart officials said today they don't know how long the teen used the store as his hiding place, and managers were interviewing workers.

The teen's family reported him missing to police as soon as he went missing and searched for him for two days until police located him inside Wal-Mart. He has now been reunited with his family. Police say there was no need to contact Child Protective Services in this case because the teen did not seem to be abused or neglected.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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