Missing 5-year-old boy from Crystal Lake was not abducted, police say

Crystal Lake police say there is no indication that missing 5-year-old Andrew Freund was abducted and they are focusing their investigation on the boy’s home.

“During the last 24 hours, several police search and rescue canine units, trained specifically to locate people, were utilized in an attempt to locate Andrew,” Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Thomas Kotlowski said.

“The canine teams only picked up Andrew’s ‘scent’ within the residence indicating that Andrew had not walked away on foot,” Kotlowski said.

“In reviewing all investigative information thus far, there is no indication that would lead police to believe that an abduction had taken place,” he added.

Police said that there is no reason to believe that there is a threat to the community and authorities are focusing their investigation on the home.

Andrew “AJ” Freund was last seen at his home in the 0-100 block of Dole Avenue Wednesday at 9 p.m. when his parents put him to bed.

They called police Thursday morning after reportedly waking up and not being able to find the boy in the home, police said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation specializing in missing children cases, the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children and search and rescue dogs were called to help with the investigation.

The Crystal Lake Police Department also called in 15 police agencies, along with 4 drones, to assist with a coordinated search of the area, Kotlowski said.

“Approximately 373 acres were covered during a foot search and approximately 497 acres were covered via aerial search by drones,” he added.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, boat and sonar technicians from fire departments in Lake and McHenry counties were called to help search under all of the docks and piers along the entire shore length of Crystal Lake, including the lake itself off of the Main Beach area, police said.

The sonar teams concluded their search at 10 p.m. without locating anything.

“The police department would like to thank the public for their continued offers of assistance and support.” Kotlowski said, adding that the public can assist police by searching their own property and reporting anything suspicious to authorities.

Andrew is 3-foot-5, 70 pounds and has short blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a blue Mario sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Crystal Lake Police Department at 815-356-3620. Anonymous tips can also be sent to the Crystal Lake Police Department by texting the word CLPDTIP along with the tip information to 847411 (tip411).