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OAKBORO — When Billy and Rachel Huddleston’s 12-year-old son disappeared Tuesday evening, residents in this small Stanly County town whirred into action.
They’ve walked and driven every street in this town of 650 people — and the highways leading out of it. They’ve held candlelight vigils and posted and handed out flyers. A local business donated T-shirts bearing little Billy’s picture.
The Huddlestons and others have passed days and nights where Billy was last seen at the small shop Rachel was renovating to turn into a gift store. Oakboro police set up a command post there.
“We’ve heard a lot of tales,” said grandfather Eddie Bearden, “but none of them have panned out.” Bearden was staying with about 25 other people Friday night at Rachel’s shop.
“Every street in this town I guarantee you has been hit about 10 times. We’ve had as many as 800 people combing rivers and ponds, looking in garages and under bridges, under houses. Anything anybody can get into, we’ve been there.”
Billy Huddleston, 12, is a rising sixth-grader at Oakboro Elementary School. He lives with his parents and two older siblings on the edge of town, at 517 Valleyview Drive.
Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., he left his mother’s store on a bicycle. She hasn’t seen him since then — though others have reported seeing him.
“We’ve got a lot of kids who ride bicycles around town,” Oakboro Police Chief Donald Whitley said. “That’s not that uncommon.”
Around 8 that night, Billy left his bicycle at a neighbor’s house near the corner of Center and Fifth streets, Whitley said. He walked across the road to another house. His friend there wasn’t home, so he walked back.
That’s when one witness saw Billy willingly climb into a red car with two males he appeared to know, Whitley said.
A woman driving to work at 5:30 the next morning said she saw Billy playing near the same intersection. Since then, others from as far away as Rock Hill, S.C. have reported seeing Billy, said Whitley, who believes the child is still in Oakboro, a town of about 650 people.
Oakboro police have called in the Stanly County Sheriff’s Department, the state and federal bureaus of investigation and have access to a helicopter the N.C. Highway Patrol uses.
Billy stands 4 feet, 9 inches tall and has short, blond hair. He was last wearing a white tank-top shirt, denim shorts, a red ball cap with an “O” on it and black and white tennis shoes.
“There’s a lot of supporters and they’re working tremendously hard,” Billy’s father, Billy Huddleston, said Friday night. “That’s how deeply the community feels.”
“ ... We just keep hoping and praying.”
“Are there not flyers up in Salisbury?” Huddleston asked. “There will be.”
The Huddlestons are offering an $1,100 reward for any information leading to Billy. If you have information to share, please contact Oakboro police at 704-485-4214.
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