A three-day search is over for eight-year-old
Alondo Panky Thurman.
By the time officers got the news, he was back
home, close at the side of his great-aunt, Ivy Hogan.
Panky was spotted about two miles from his West
Dallas home by his uncle, who had been
searching for him all morning.
I'm going to give up and wait until this
afternoon, and I saw him at that Exxon station
across there.
I just jumped off the truck and ran and grabbed him.
Panky told us that he was staying with a man
named Jeff who worked at a grocery store.
We went to the store and talked to Jeff, and he
said that Panky had been staying with him for
the past three days,
but he didn't realize that he was a runaway.
He had to go to work, and he gave me $2.
He had to go to work, and he gave him $2.
Were you forced to stay there, or was this man
really your friend?
He was my friend.
Jeff, shown here, was ready to talk to us on
camera and explain what happened,
but managers at his store ushered him back to work.
Dallas police say they are treating the case as
a runaway.
It was strictly a man who felt sorry for him.
He's slightly retarded, and the man said that
the boy came up to him and said he was hungry,
needed a place to stay, and he took him in,
didn't realize that the whole city was looking
for this little boy.
Meanwhile, Panky's family is glad that he is safe.
I just grabbed him and held him because I
haven't slept in 72 hours.
And I'm so glad to have him back home.
Ramona Logan, Texas News 5.