A child-abduction alert has been issued in St. Louis for a 5-year-old boy on a waiting list for a heart transplant, who is believed to have been taken by his father.
Porter Stone was reported missing from Children's Hospital at 4.20pm (local time) after his father, with whom he left, called the boy's mother to tell her "he was taking his son," said officer Sherri Bruns of the St. Louis Police Department.
The couple reportedly has been embroiled in a custody dispute over the boy, she said.
The boy was carrying a backpack with a medical intravenous pump and medication that will last 48 hours, Bruns said.
He was at the hospital awaiting a transplant, she said, adding, "He is next on the list."
Porter Stone was described as being 117cm tall and weighing 20kg. He had a Mohawk-style haircut and was dressed in a gray shirt and black-and-white shorts and Spiderman shoes.
Police said the father, Jeffrey Stone, 33, might be driving a black or silver Toyota Corolla with California plates.
