Tween Boy Goes Missing for 6 Days, Found in IKEA

Photo: Imaginechina/Corbis

Well, here’s a new homework-dodging tactic.

A six-day search in Shanghai, China ended Sunday when 12-year-old Peng Yijian was found by police in an IKEA furniture store. According to a report released Monday, the boy was being treated at a local hospital for weakness and hunger.

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After he was reported missing, police found surveillance footage of him wandering around a nearby shopping center, Sun Miao, a local police officer told Shanghai Daily.

“We thought there might be other places he likes to visit, so we asked his mother. She gave us eight or nine names, including Caoxi Park, Nanfang Shopping Mall, In Center and IKEA,” Sun said.

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Sure enough, more surveillance footage captured the boy at an IKEA located less than two miles from the shopping center where he was seen last. Police approached the store, blocked all exists, and found Yijian near an escalator on the ground floor. He had been surviving on free samples from the supermarket. (No word on whether he was able to get his hands on some of IKEA’s famous meatballs during his stay.)

Yijilan had been missing since the afternoon of Monday, November 3. The seventh grader had been sent home from school because he didn’t do his math homework. His mother shouted at him when he got there, which led to him running away with an equivalent of 25 cents in his pocket.

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We’re relieved that Yijilan has been reunited with his family, but we can’t say we’re surprised that he chose IKEA as his temporary home. Kids love it there! We recently asked parents on Facebook for rainy-day kid activities, and there were several votes for IKEA, touting its awesome play area and cafes.

Pretend time: If your child tried to run away, where would you go looking for him? (Target? Costco? Sephora?)