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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 11:16 p.m. ET: Investigators found "suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point" at the home of a 6-year-old Arizona girl whose disappearance has prompted a massive search, with more than 150 law enforcement officers trying to figure out whether she was abducted, a police spokeswoman said Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
Tucson police Sgt. Maria Hawke wouldn't comment Sunday on whether the entry point was a bedroom window or a door. But family friend Mary Littlehorn said she heard from others close to the family that a window screen in the girl's bedroom had been knocked down.
The parents of first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis have said they last saw her in her bedroom at 11 p.m. Friday, according to Hawke. She was discovered missing at about 8 a.m. Saturday, and the parents phoned 911 minutes later.
Officers kept the whole neighborhood block where Isabel lives cordoned off for a second day and fanned out over a wide area looking for clues to the possible kidnapping. A fourth search of a three-mile radius around the home was completed Sunday afternoon in temperatures that reached the high-90s, police Lt. Fabian Pacheco said at a Sunday evening news conference.
Pacheco wouldn't comment on the suspicious "entry point," saying: "I don't want to compromise anything."
Earlier Sunday, Tucson police chief Roberto Villasenor said officers had served at least two search warrants. The girl's parents, identified by friends as Becky and Sergio Celis, were helpful as police worked to find their youngest child, he said. He said police were still classifying the case as a "suspicious disappearance/possible abduction."
"We're not ruling anything out of the investigation at this point because we really need to keep our mind open about all the information that's been brought to us," Villasenor said. "The family has been cooperating with us."
Littlehorn, who gathered Sunday with other family friends at a police command post, said authorities separated the two parents for hours Saturday as they questioned them. She said it was difficult for them knowing their little girl was out there somewhere.
"She hasn't been allowed to help look for her daughter," Littlehorn said of Becky Celis.
The massive search resumed Sunday morning.
Scores of police, FBI agents and deputy U.S. marshals combed the city’s east side for Isabel. Officials tried to determine if the girl was kidnapped or just wandered off.
Isabel’s parents last saw her in bed at 11 p.m. Friday, and they discovered her missing when they woke up around 8 a.m. Saturday, Tucson police spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said.
Police using dogs and a helicopter were still out late Saturday night, police communications operator Patrick Olea said.
Friends of the family distributed fliers with a photo of Isabel, NBC station KVOA in Tucson reported.
"We're really surprised or shocked that anything like this could happen to our family," the girl's uncle, Justin Mastromarino, told KVOA.
Hawke said investigators were looking into all potential scenarios, including the possibility that Isabel got up and wandered out of the home she shares with her parents and two brothers or that she was kidnapped.
Investigators also were examining every door and window of the house for signs of a break-in, Hawke said.
Both parents live in the home, so police had no indication a child custody dispute was involved but weren't completely ruling it out.
"We don't want to be caught behind the ball by not exploring that possibility," Hawke said Saturday afternoon.
The working-class neighborhood of single-family homes is sandwiched between a large shopping mall to the east and businesses and a Catholic school to the west.
Isabel is described as just under 4 feet tall and weighing 44 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She is missing her two front teeth.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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I hope and pray for the girls safe return.
What about an Amber alert or posting a smaller picture of Isabel in the corner of every msnbc webpage to help people familiarize her face. Why just report it when you could really be helping?
My heart goes out to this family--I hope with every part of my soul she comes home safe. Each day there are 2,185 children on average reported missing. About 40% of those are abductions. This has to end now.
A six year old is smart but wander off? Would she have locked and closed the door behind her, that would be efficient and smart..Nothing really to go on but if everything was locked up Im going to think it was an inside job..Bless her heart I hope they find her curled safe up in a closet or something.
when my sister was six she would get up in the middle of the night and wander away and we got her a dog which we would tie up at night and if she [my sister] would get out of the house [doors locked] and wander we would take her puppy on a rope and the puppy would lead us right to her as they were the best of friends
she didn't grow out of this until she was 10 or 11 and by then dad had put a key only lock on the doors
in a city the size of tucson there should be a tracking dog around who if brought in right away could follow and at least get a direction of travel
Wow, your Dad waited until she was 10 to put better locks on the doors?
Seems like a long time to wait, doesn't it? A simple eye hook lock set higher than she could reach costs maybe 50 cents and takes a whole minute to install.
dorkkwadd - They've been using bloodhounds. Also, from the AZ Daily Star:
"Tucson Police called upon several other agencies to help with the search. The FBI sent agents and an evidence recovery team. The U.S. Marshals Office sent people to help with the neighborhood search. The Arizona Department of Corrections sent bloodhounds. Both the Pima County Sheriff's Office and the multi-agency Rapid Response Team sent search-and-rescue personnel. The Tucson Fire Department provided equipment and personnel."
StrontiDog & Lusitania ...
Those easy, cheap locks do not work with somnambulists (sleep walkers, which could be the case). My brother was one. Sleep walking is very prominent, dominant in elementary aged children, my mother had 4 different locks on the door and my brother would push a chair to door, unlock all, put chair back, open door, relock main door lock latch, go out, down several stairs, and ran up the street to my aunts house and banged on door til she answered. Dr. said, had my aunt not answered he would have prob. gone across town to my grandmother's house. My brother had no recollection of this happeneing. we knew he ''walked'' but usually walked around circles in the living room, had no idea he would go out of house until it happened, and she kept adding different locks, high up on door.
They said they weren't going to put out an Amber alert because they don't know if she left voluntarily or was kidnapped. Now how stupid is that!!! What do we have Amber alerts for anyway!! Come on, this is terrible. PRAY for her, poor little child, she must be scared.
They should put out an amber alert NO MATTER WHAT! That is what this system is set up for, even if she wandered off (which I seriously doubt) it is still and should be used to find her. Put OUT THE AMBER ALERT. I am sorry sometimes I don't understand law enforcement and why they drag their feet on this stuff. She HAS been missing since Friday! This is not a good sign.
Blessings and hope for her safe return. She is such a darling little child, I hope for the best and prayers for the family.
Slinger, there are criteria for Amber Alerts to be issued...they ARE NOT issued for EVERY missing child...
chttp://www.amberalert.gov/faqs.htm
I didn't know that, and it doesn't seem right does it? I would think it should be issued on anyone considered "endangered". She has been missing two full days now, I would consider her seriously endangered, wouldn't you?
I truly hope that they find her alive and safe. Day by day it's becoming scarier to raise a child for one reason or another. My thoughts, prayers and best wishes to the little girl and her friends and family.
@ Kallie:
I don't know where you're getting your figures from, but I seriously doubt that 319,910 children are abducted in the USA every year.
@Shandril The U.S. Department of Justice reports
797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping. (These crimes involve someone the child does not know or someone of slight acquaintance, who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently.) I'm almost 70yrs old and it took me all of 30 seconds to google this.
Trying to track a scent here in Tucson would be near impossible. We have constant winds and they change direction often. Those who grew up here say it wasn't nearly as windy when they were young as it is now. It also went from 60 degrees to over 90 degrees in like a day, we couldn't spend more that 20 minutes out there this weekend. A child who wandered off would seek food, water, and shade in a matter of hours once the sun came up.
Who pays attention to AMBER Alerts? Except for a reader board on the side of the Freeway, what else does the average person do to follow up - nothing.
It's nice that people care - but responding with emotions just slows down a search.
The local news just reported we broke a record, hitting 101 degrees today. After reporting on the girl, they followed it up with the winner of a contest to name when we would top 100 degrees, the winner getting an Alaska cruise - welcome to the 21st Century.
With us hitting 100 degrees - her best bet for survival is if she was abducted.
Where she was abducted near Broadway and Craycroft, there are several monsoon canals, often used by illegals to travel north and sleep. There is also many apartments around there - my hunch is it was someone near her home - people don't just wander in Tucson when it hits 100 degrees.
She is probably overseas by now sold to a wealthy middle east businessman....that or it was a person familier with the family and their habits. Human traffic in porn and sex drive more of this type of crime than people think. Hope she is OK.........
"and she kept adding different locks, high up on door."
How does a lock that is locked from the inside do anything to prevent a sleep walker from leaving the room? Seems to me you would want to lock them in. Although that is dangerous (fire) and probably illegal these days.
@Ed-1118000 " Seems to me you would want to lock them in. Although that is dangerous (fire) and probably illegal these days"
Then someone, your neighbor, the cable guy, someone would find out you locked your child in a room at night and call Child Protective Services on you, they would make some case about "unlawfully imprisonment" and you would be the one trying to prove your innocence when all you were doing was trying to protect your child and the media would have you painted as some kind of sicko in 10 minutes flat.
I hope they find her. I just wish other missing children got a little more attention. FBI are involved in a case in WV of a little girl who's been missing since last year. Lungsford, I believe is the last name? Still nowhere near solving that mystery =(
But here's hoping for a happy ending to this case!
They really need a HUGE AMBER ALERT SYSTEM, that flashes on everyone's TV nationwide. The amber alert needs to be expanded and not used JUST in the area of the missing child, it needs to be EVERYWHERE.
There is also a missing child Teeka Lewis from Tacoma Washington. She has never been found and nothing is even put out on her anymore. It saddens me. The child safety and protection laws need to be really expanded and reinforced..... This stuff breaks my heart as a mother.
Slinger,The Tacoma Police department has a small cold case squad working on that case as well as the Alexander Guidroz case.In fact,there was an article in the Tacoma fishwrap about the two cases recently,still not a trace of Teeka Lewis. Sad,Sad, Sad.
Sad.
Not good at all.
Check the parents first!Could be a kidnapping with something to do with drugs!One of her parents was probably involved with some drug gang! Kidnapping are not that uncommon in Arizona! Another possiblity is non payment of money due to coyotes who might have helped someone in their family get into Amersica!!Hate to be so pessimistic but this isn't in the top five like kidnappings I have read or heard about in this area! All were the result of the above reasons!
I think all that kidnapping and beheading stuff turned out to be a bunch of fox news bulls#it.
What part of this article made you think the parents are involved in a drug gang?
embellishment = lying.
You need help really bad.Good luck
maso98 is a busy guy! He last worked for Eric Holder in that Fast and Furious scheme to prove that the 2nd amendment is a bad thing.
This comment of his is another liberal smoke and mirrors effort to turn this story into something that it isn't. I be he also has a 'valid' theory that G. Zimmerman is leader of the KKK, lol!
mas098.
You clearly don't live in Arizona. Take all that Fox news propaganda that you hear about Arizona somewhere else. For those of us who do live in Arizona, we all know that not one of your statements is even remotely true. To think that this girl's disappearance had anything to do with drugs or coyotes, is a stretch at best.
Seldom, why did YOU have to turn this into a liberal bash? His silly comments have nothing to do with being liberal, and your post was as manufactured as his was since you added the liberal part. I assure you he doesn't represent liberals and his post is a product of his imagination.
I also was wondering if there might be more to the story.
Since do the FBI and US Marshals start looking for missing people right from the beginning? Usually the local police and volunteer groups start searching.
his ideas are not all that far fetched. the most proper appearing family can have many things going on that are not visible to the outsider. there could be drugs, guns, family dispute with relatives. to think any less is to just be naive like the people who responded to him. how many times has this been happening lately? I do hope they find her safe and sound.
One of my kids attended the University of Arizona in Tucson, not too far from this neighborhood. I visited a number of times and I can tell you, the closer you are to the freeway, the sketchier the neighborhoods are. There IS a drug/gang culture going on in these parts. I took a short cut through this neighborhood (on my way to a hotel) and my kid made me promise to lock my car doors while driving! A lot of odd bods wandering around. Also, most of the homes in Tucson (older homes) are small bungalows. Not hard to break into at all. When my kid rented one we worried constantly aboutt breakins. I think it's likely the little girl may have let herself out of the house and been taken by someone. It's easy to get on the I-10 freeway from this neighborhood and my money is on someone having left the area with her. I hope someone is checking truckstops.....
Shut up Taylor your an idiot.
"One time I drove through a neighborhood that didn't look like mine. There were weird-looking poor people walking around. I didn't like it." --Stephaniecali
MP928, hahaha, well put.
Stephaniecali, I live in Boston, and as with ANY state in the country, esp those surrounding cities or populated areas (such as campuses) there is going to be people of other ethincities and drug use. Where do you live in Cali? hopefully not around LA, San deigo or anywhere south otherwise you must stay inside all day.
Good thoughts for a HAPPY ending2this drama. <3
U need more than thoughts! You need Prayers.
Hey, genius. Maybe Diane isn't religious. Unfortunate that people who don't pray aren't giving enough in your opinion.
Sad.. Too bad parents couldnt get tracking devices for their kids. These days you need something like that.
Time to go to school here is your lunch money and dont forget your tracking devices you are an airhead how about if they just take care of their kids.
I'm not liking the sounds of this already. I hope they find her unharmed.
beverly- If you had a child come up missing on their walk home you would be dreaming of such innovation. Please do kids a favor and don't have any.
Packin-Exactly! In this cazy screwed up world kids disappear daily without fault of the parent!! We have an unsolved case here in Oregon where the little boy disappeared from school. We can have info chips inplanted in our pets, why not in our kids!!!! I'm sure that a tracking device could be invented for this purpose easily. I'd have it for my kids if they weren't aleady grown. Have 2 grandsons, 9 months and 4 months. Just recently a woman was murdered for her 3 day old son!!! If they come out with kid tracking devices I'd buy them for my grandsons in a heartbeat!!!
I remember the days when that was part of horror stories of a government tyranny now we have people begging to have them put in their kids. Geesh, where has America gone?
Bad things happen and you cannot keep your kids safe all the time but selling their freedom for your peace of mind is not productive.
We need to do a serious cultural reassessment (like making child molestation a capital punishment or at least life in prison offense) if we want our kids to be safe. Let's lock up the pedophiles instead of putting our kids under house arrest!
It is not America that went anywhere, it is our society, after the fiasco in Florida will Kaylee, look at the increase in missing kids now. I think people think Casey got away with it, so what!! It says alot for our society with our children at such risk.
How is putting a tracking chip under the skin of your kids' arm or leg sacrificing their rights? Until eighteen years old YOU are the sole controller of your kids' rights. I see absolutely nothing wrong with putting a tracking chip on your kid that can be monitored only by YOU, until your children are eighteen years old and can then decide at that time if they want the chip removed or not.
You can be as ideological as you like, saying lets go after the perpetrators and not the victims, but in the meantime while we fix society our kids are still going to get kidnapped, raped and murdered every day and I think if we can prevent that by any means necessary than it must be done regardless of our ideological principles.
Okay, going to be the devil's advocate here. So you get that chip implanted in your child. You have a close family friend who spends a lot of time around you and your child. He knows your child has a chip. Unbeknown to you he is a pedophile, they are exceptionally good at hiding the truth about their evil tendencies. He also is or knows someone who is a computer nerd/geek/whatever. Your computer gets hacked, he gets the child's signal code. Now he can follow her daily routine and plan her abduction. Once abducted he can then disable or remove the chip. Then after he rapes and kills her, just to prove how evil he is he reactivates or reinserts the chip so you can locate her dead body in a garbage heap or a landfill. Sorry folks there is absolutely no way to 100% protect ourselves or our children from the evil that man is capable of. Wish it were not so, but a criminal mind is also a cunning and devious mind.
Well said Realist.
I would point out another less graphic possibility that people are not considering. Not all pedophiles kidnap children. Many are actually family friends, teachers, clergy, scout leaders and any number of other people you trust. Your child could easily be in their company with the chip in place and still and rape your child without your knowing it. Because you trusted a stupid piece of electronics to keep your child safe and lowered your guard. The child's life is still ruined.
Parenting is not easy and trusting electronics to parent your child will not keep them safe.
As to other people's comments that it is not stealing their freedom consider it the first step down the road to pertidition. Where does it lead?
If the world is so dangerous that you need a GPS chip implanted in your kid, you shouldn't be bringing kids into the world in the first place.
Paranoid Personality Disorder (Diagnostic Code 310.0, DSM-IV)
Actually, they do make trackers that you can use for your kids. I have one for my son. He is 15 and is autistic. It does take a monthly subscription cost though. It is run by GPS...I can call the unit that he wears, and it will send back a location as to where he is.
I hope and pray this little girl returns safely.
Hoping they find her safe. As a mother of three now grown children, just want to say that the likelihood of her getting up in the middle of the night, leaving the house and wandering off (as was hypothesized in the article), seems unlikely if she has not exhibited this type of behavior previously.
Many prayers and positive thoughts for the parents across the miles. I hope this story has a happy ending. It has become a sick sick world when our children are stolen and exploited. It happens every single day and it needs to stop now.
Sandie- YOUR comment brought on a "flashback" of myself at 6 years old. It IS possible she wandered outside, and possibly got snatched because of it. I had a neighbor that had gotten me interested in astronomy and would wander out to look at the stars. I read yesterday that one of the annual minor meteor showers would be hitting it's peak last night. But there were all kinds of things I would wander outside for, alone, at night. Night is when the bats are out feeding, frogs active and visible, alot of moths and insects that you won't find in the day. Even the large night birds like owls. Yeah- I was a weird kid, now of course the kids think I'm a brilliant grandma. BUT...
Has anybody really listened to Isabel's interests? What have they been learning in school? If she was looking for stars, she would probably know to go away from street lights. The investigators could be missing something because they're looking too close to home for a sign of her.
I can see a child wandering off and knew of a boy who would go down three flight of outside stairs and go into the street. But most don't lock everything up behind them. Strange...I hope they find her and that she is okay...doesn't sound good, but one can hope.
It seems as if the two National Programs developed to help find a Missing Child should be activated to help find Missing Child Isabel Celis. To activate the "Deliver Me Home Network" National Program, law enforcement involved with the case needs to contact Code Adam (via NCMEC) and request that certain zip code(s) be targeted, and a Missing Child poster of Isabel would be mailed to every address in the requested zip code(s). In 2003 16,000 posters of a Missing Child in Georgia were mailed to every address in that tri-county area. If a more massive poster distribution and display is needed they should activate the National Program called the "NALC/USPS Child Alert Program". According to the written instructions for that important Program law enforcement needs to request from the NCMEC that paragraph four of the "Missing Children Poster Display Instructions" be activated (these instructions are printed monthly in the Postal Bulletin and available to every Postmaster in the country). According to these written instructions, within 24 hours an e-mailed poster of the Missing Child would be sent to every Postmaster in the country, and they are to make copies and have them displayed in the "box lobby" for the general public to view, in the workroom floor area for the letter carriers to view, and the letter carriers are to carry a copy of the poster with them on their route. There's over 35,000 P.O.'s in this country, this would seem like an excellent way to get awareness out about a Missing Child.
Hardly likely that she would wander off in the dark, unless she was a sleepwalker.
I find it odd that children and women disappear so often in the USA. The results are usually not very positive and I hope this little child is found soon and well.
I am overwhelmed by the helplessness it brings out in me, everytime.
What concerns me is the amount of children missing in this manner. Parents go to bed, wake up, and kid is missing. I hope this child is found soon safe and sound.
I have to agree with you on that comment. It seems that it is either becoming more common to break into homes and steal children or more common for parents to hurt their own kids and try to pass it off as kidnappings. Either way a disturbing trend.
This will not turn out good.
Another missing child under mysterious circumstances. There isn't much information in the article about the situation. I hope they find her quickly and alive. The parents should be prime suspects along with the brothers. The longer she remains missing the harder it will be to solve case. The results are usually not very positive in this type of missing child case.
I'm hoping for a happy ending to this case and she is found safe!
most times we see this it does not end well, praying for a happy ending.
My heart goes out to the family for a happy ending to this terrible nightmare. I'll continue to pray for a happy and safe return for this little girl.
I lived in Tucson, in the 80's, and early 90's, I remember a child found dead in an abandoned vehicle in a neighborhood, near that area. The police then reported that children were being "taken" from their homes and being found outside their homes, alive, of course. I can't remember how many, but enough that WE, the public should have been NOTIFIED! The police said they didn't want to alarm people, or tip off the perpetrator of the crimes!
I don't think they ever caught the person either!
JoAnn I believe you're talking about the case of Zosha Lee Pickett in 1986. I was just talking to someone about this case. Her killer was convicted and actually linked to another homicide case involving another child. Wonder if there will EVER be enough for us to do as parents to protect our children??? Criminals always seem to be one step ahead of us.
mamax4,
I think you are correct!
And then there was the Vicki Lynn Hoskinson case...
Scary!
Arizona?...check the illegal neighborhoods first...they all have "short eyes"...hope she's found unharmed.
I hope and pray God watches over this little girl and she's returned safely to her family...BUT, you know what this will mean in Arizona, right? More guns! We need more guns!
And we just can't help it can we? Gotta throw that GUN rant in there.
NOT ANOTHER CHILD GONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, this is getting to be the norm of late, i think one poster said we should have our children from birth have a tracking devise implanted like a GPS type so if your child goes missing they can be located in a few minutes. we do it for our pets, i am for it then maybe these crazy people wont be so ready to steel our babies, I am praying for this family and the little girl's safe return.
and we have it for vehicles - but i agree s/b done for kids...this is getting to be redicolous (sp?) - at least 2 are missing up here in Washington and no one has a clue as to what happened to them
I'll be a new mom soon and I'm all for that idea.
It saddens me, but it makes sense. We can find our phones, dogs, and cars in days if not hours or minutes...
as much as i opposethe systematic implanting of chips into humans i have to admit, with the epidemic in this country of missing people, it could make a difference. im just gonna pray all night that she is returned and survives this; her family is in my heart tongiht.
I agree. My dogs are micro chipped but my five year old is not. Were it available, I would be first in line. To those that say it is government tyranny.....I don't care. She can have it removed when she is of age.
or the kidnappers can cut it off and send it to you.
You might not like it, but CZARBobb is correct.
wow, you know ifsomeone is willing to steal your child adn most do not come back again, what is to stop them from cutting it out? however it could help. what about a biological implant that grows with your body and cant be removed? can we alter our biology so that a detections system can be introduced in utero that becomes part of your biology?stranger things have happened. to save a life id be willing to support this. whats with the sickos and perverts anyway that ahve to steal a child or even and adult?!why is ther no iniative from our government to stop this reoccuring tragedy that is way too common in our society? if someone stole our oil baby we'd have a war and spend trillions but for the safety of our families wer not very pro-active. very sad time.
she probably just went back to mexsicko
Czar Bob, you are one demented a$$hole.. This is a child missing and all your stupid a$$ can come up with is some asinine statement about going back to Mexico. Take a History lesson dumba$$, Arizona was Mexico's land until White America got on some mythical "Manifest Destiny" BS and took it from them. She has just as much Right to be here as YOU... Remember, your forefathers were immigrants when they came here and the Native Americans welcomed them and feed them. Don't forget that part A$$HOLE!!
We do not need micro chips, we need more True Grit! If scum can't obey our laws and human decency, the golden rule so to say, a rope or lead poisoning is the answer to the question. The Dude True Grit not the Duke True Grit.
Maybe a deviant priest who likes little girls instead of boys.
You're lame
Sadly, I knew this was going to come up.
It would be difficult to snatch a 6 yr old in the middle of the night without making some kind of noise. Seems likely the child could have known the abductor. Anything could have happened. Hoping there will be some luck and she is found safe.
It happened at least 4 or 5 other times, IN TUCSON back in the late 80's in that VERY area!
The kids were found outside their homes, alive, and the police never informed the public until a child was found dead in an abandoned vehicle!
I don't know if they ever caught the killer!
Will be praying for her safe return.
My 2 children are grown, my granddaughter is just 4. Oh how I worry about her safety!! Her parents are very insightful and responsible which helps my anxiety but sometimes I wish I could be her body guard and hover over her at all times.
When my son was young, between the ages of 5-11, he would sleep walk. At first he would come into our bedroom and "jibber-jabber" (waking me up) so I would be sure he made it back to bed.
But one morning, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something out the front window in the lawn.
I immediately investigated to find his bedspread !! I ran into the house & found him sleeping in his bed. WOW, what relief !! We live in the country but never-the-less I had every possible scenerio running through my head in that short jaunt to his bedroom.
We took every precaution immaginible to STOP that from ever happening again, & to my knowledge, he never slept-walked outside again.
When I was about the same age, my mom followed me out of the house to the barn as I said I was looking for something. (we lived on a farm) But I also made it back into the house, to bed, safely.
It is amazing that sleepwalkers have the ability to unlock doors and perform normal tasks.
This could be the scenario in this case. Sounds EERILY familiar.