BELTSVILLE, Md. (WUSA) - - The reunion early Thursday morning was quite a relief for the anxious parents of two young brothers.
The youngsters came home from a neighbor's house about 6 hours after the search for them began in Beltsville around midnight.
"We were very afraid for the kids...We were scared...and I'm very happy," said Miguel Pleitez, the father of the boys.
Eight-year-old Luis and 7-year-old Xavier Pleitez returned from a neighbor's home as 9 NEWS NOW was reporting on the hunt for them. The two brothers had gone to visit the children of a new neighbor in their community.
"I was stunned because I see the two little boys that are upstairs sleeping on the news missing," said Maurice Seaborn, the neighbor.
Seaborn explained that the boys had played and gone to sleep overnight. He and his fianceetried to take the brothers home around 9 p.m. Wednesday, but found no one at the house on Stephen Lane.
Pleitez understands about the mix-up, but he still wonders why Prince George's County police officers could not get a bloodhound for the search.
"I said what happened to the dogs and they said no, we couldn't get any help from anybody," said Pleitez.
The boys' father says he was anxious for a search dog to arrive because he feared his sons had gotten lost in the woods near their home.
"If dogs would have come at least I would have known that they were not in the woods..and a little creek. I was afraid they might have gone to the park and get attacked by a dog, maybe," he said.
At a news conference on his upcoming retirement, Police Chief Melvin High was asked about the officers'not being able to get a bloodhound while looking for the boys.
"It's something that I'm looking at. You know, in a situation like that, every resource that we have is available to any member of this department," said Chief High.
County Executive Jack Johnson questioned why the boys' family questioned the search process when everything turned out fine.
"All of the law enforcement people in our county put all of their efforts, and were as concerned about his child as they would be any child that's missing in Prince George's County.
Pleitez says the officers also tried to get a bloodhound from at least two other counties, but were turned down. That is something that was hard for a worried parent to understand.
"I felt verylittle. Like no value. Like it was not worth. 'Like your boys weren't important?' Yeah," Pleitez said.
