Tristan King was nine years old when he disappeared from Brooklyn, a neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 24, 2025. At the time, publicly reported details suggested he was a child already connected to a difficult family and child-welfare situation: he had been in the care of a great-aunt before his disappearance, his legal guardian was identified as his grandmother Donna White, and White had reportedly been living in a nursing home after suffering a stroke.
Reporting later indicated that Tristan had been turned over to the Maryland Department of Human Services before he went missing, and The Baltimore Banner reported that he ran from a caseworker, leaving authorities, relatives, and the community searching for a young boy whose circumstances were deeply vulnerable from the start.
For nearly six months, Tristan’s case remained unresolved. Baltimore officials described the search as an extensive, multi-agency investigation involving local, state, and federal resources. The Baltimore Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit continued working the case, and community concern remained high because Tristan was only nine years old and had been missing through the fall and winter. Public reports described the uncertainty surrounding where he was, who might have been helping him stay hidden, and why he had not been located despite sightings and ongoing investigative efforts. His absence became not only a missing child case, but also a painful reminder of how fragile a child’s safety can become when family hardship, guardianship questions, and public systems intersect.
The search ended on the morning of March 13, 2026, when members of the Baltimore Police Department located Tristan safely at a residence in the Curtis Bay area after the Missing Persons Unit received a tip. Curtis Bay is only a short distance from Brooklyn, meaning Tristan was found not far from the area where he had last been seen almost six months earlier. After he was located, police transported him to a hospital so he could receive medical and psychological evaluations. Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott publicly announced the recovery, expressing relief for Tristan’s safe return and gratitude to the law enforcement partners and community members who helped bring the search to an end.
Because Tristan was found alive, this is no longer an active missing persons case. Officials emphasized that his recovery did not end the need for care, support, and answers. Maryland Governor Wes Moore said Tristan’s safety and healing had to be the priority, while the Maryland Department of Human Services indicated that attention would shift to making sure he received appropriate medical attention and support. People reported that Tristan’s grandmother, Donna White, cried when she learned he had been found and that she and Tristan spoke by phone after his recovery, a small but powerful human moment after months of fear and uncertainty.
After Tristan was found, the investigation continued into whether anyone had concealed him or obstructed law enforcement. Denise Day, identified in reports as Tristan’s aunt or great-aunt, was later arrested. WMAR reported that she was charged with abducting a child under 12 and abduction of a child by a relative, and that charging documents accused her of helping hide Tristan from police. CBS Baltimore also reported that Day confessed during an interview with the Baltimore Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit to helping Tristan elude police for nearly five months. Those allegations became part of the broader aftermath of the case, as officials and the public looked not only at how Tristan was found, but also at how a nine-year-old could remain missing for so long in the same city.
In the end, Tristan King’s case began as the disappearance of a nine-year-old boy last seen in Brooklyn, Maryland, on September 24, 2025, and became a months-long search shaped by family hardship, child-welfare involvement, community concern, and unanswered questions. He was found alive on March 13, 2026, in Curtis Bay after a tip led police to him, and he was taken for medical and psychological evaluation so that his recovery could begin. The case then shifted from an active missing child search to an investigation into what happened during the months he was gone and who may have helped keep him hidden. The overview of the case is that Tristan was a vulnerable child reported missing from Brooklyn, remained missing for nearly six months, was safely recovered close to where he disappeared, and now stands at the center of a closed missing-person recovery and an ongoing effort to understand how he was lost, how he survived, and how the systems around him can better protect children in the future.Last Seen: Sep 24, 2025
