NYPD searching for missing boys Alfa Barrie, 11, and Garrett Warren, 13
NEW YORK -- There is an all-out search underway for two missing boys from Harlem and the Bronx.
Flyers with pictures of 13-year-old Garrett Warren, from Harlem, and 11-year-old Alfa Barrie, from the Bronx, have been posted on cars, fences and trees around a Harlem playground, and the NYPD's Harbor Unit was part of the search Tuesday night.
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Both families say the boys have never gone missing before.
"We are not angry at anyone. We're not trying to press charges or arrest anyone at all. We just want to find these two boys and bring them back home," said Dayshell Moore, Garrett Warren's mother.
Moore is breathless over her missing son, begging for answers on his whereabouts.
"Saturday at 1:30 a.m., Friday going into Saturday is the last time they have been seen, so we're trying to get more information," she said.
The 13-year-old's mother says the two boys went out Friday night, coming back to Garrett's house in Harlem around 1:30 a.m. Saturday so Garrett could change his clothes. After that, she says they left to go play basketball.
"I miss my son, and I love my baby, and I need him back home," Moore said.
Alfa's sister Fatima Diallo last saw her little brother before he went to school Friday.
"He always calls us. He goes to school with my little sister. They always come out together," Fatima Diallo said. "It has been five days. A little boy outside by himself. This is something new that has happened to us."
She says the 11-year-old always communicates where he is, so this is unlike him.
Alfa's family says they got a call that the 6th grader walked out of class at Democracy Prep on Friday, the school stating it's "extremely concerned" about his whereabouts.
"They stated that he went to use the bathroom, and then he left," Diallo said.
Loved ones say Alfa's mother is struggling.
"She has not eaten since Friday, and she's got high blood pressure. It's really very, very hard on her right now," one man said.
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Garrett's grandma, Candy Bojang, also believes this is out of character for her grandson.
"My grandson, he's a football player. He's a sports player. He loves school. He's a typical 13-year-old," she said.
Police say the boys were last seen on surveillance video together at around 7 p.m. on Friday near Lennox Avenue and 145th Street in Harlem. Since then, the NYPD has had multiple units, including the Harbor Unit, searching.
"There are millions of eyes and ears in our city and we are asking them right now to help us find these children," said Assistant Chief Ruel Stephenson, commanding officer of NYPD Manhattan North.
"We are going to search land, air and sea. Obviously, the water is right here. They are young children. We are taking every precaution. We have state-of-the-art helicopters, Harbor Unit. We're going to use all our assets to look for these kids," Deputy Chief Brian Gill said.
Sources tell CBS2 that police searched the Harlem River near West 145th Street after getting a 911 call that two kids were seen in the water. Nobody was ever found, and it's unclear if that call had anything to do with this case.
Police are still searching for clues.
"We're looking at video all over Manhattan. We're trying to identify everybody that was with them. We need to speak to every single person that was with them," Gill said.
Police say it's unclear if the boys are in any danger, but because of how young they are the department is not taking any chances.
Investigators have been working round the clock and will continue to do so until the boys are found.
Police are currently reviewing surveillance video from within the 143rd Street area.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
