Parents seek public's help to find missing 15-year-old son

June 20, 2012

Parents of Kahil Gray, a 15-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, are asking for the public's help in finding their son.

The teenager is described to be about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 pounds. He was wearing a white T-shirt with blue stripes and light blue jeans at the time of his disappearance. Kahil disappeared about 4 p.m. Tuesday when his father had taken his son with him to pick up forms at the University of Chicago Medicine's Comer Children's Hospital. Footage from hospital video cameras show Kahil running north on Cottage Grove.

Though Kahil was not a patient, the hospital staff immediately initiated an alert as part of the infant abduction system. Hospital public safety officers and the University of Chicago Police Department immediately locked down the facility and launched a search of the medical and university campuses. The Chicago Police Department also was notified. The University police continued looking for the teen through the night. At the same time, security officers began reviewing hundreds of video feeds from campus cameras and were able to locate three images of Kahil leaving the building and heading toward Cottage Grove. Video clips of Kahil are available by request.

"Once notified, we immediately activated our system and responded to assist the police and the parents to locate the child. Our officers canvassed the campus and nearby areas looking for him," said Mona Sonnenshein, chief operating officer of the University of Chicago Medicine. "We also went through hundreds of videotapes until we found footage of him running toward Cottage Grove. We are working with the Chicago Police Department and the parents to find Kahil."

The teen can speak only a few words, according to his father. Kahil's parents say he can recognize his name. Anyone with information regarding the teenager's whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago police at 312-747-8274.