Search for missing 15-year-old with learning disability in Melaka underway

MELAKA: A 15-year-old boy with a learning disability has been reported missing after going into the forest near Kampung Permatang Pasir, here, in search of a lost cow.

Melaka Fire and Rescue Department’s public relations officer, Deputy Fire Supt Mohd Hafidzatullah Rashid, said the search and rescue operation for Muhamad Aidil Asyraf Fadli began immediately after they received a distress call at 11.54pm on Wednesday (June 4).

“The initial search was conducted around the cattle pen area and was halted at 1.35am before resuming at 7.00am on Thursday (June 5),” he said.

He stated that the operation was led by Senior Fire Officer Akhbar Abdol Karim, along with six personnel from the Padang Temu Fire and Rescue Station here.

The boy’s mother, Siti Norehan Azhar, 38, said that her son, the second of six siblings, had not returned home after completing his daily task of tending to his uncle’s 13 cows.

She said that her son would usually come home around 7pm after finishing his chores.

“I began to feel uneasy when he hadn’t returned after 8pm.

“My nephew went out to search for my son but could not find him,” she said.

Siti Norehan reported that her son has been taking care of the cows every evening for the past three years, and this is the first time he has gone missing.

She mentioned that a missing cow was eventually found near an abandoned pond in the forest at around 10pm on Wednesday. However, there was no sign of her son.