By Kimberly Gasuras

CCN Reporter

When Shawn Ditmars woke up on Saturday morning, the first thing he realized was that his 9-year-old son, Simon, was not in the house.

Shawn, who lives in Bucyrus, said he sets his alarm to wake up before his son, who is high-functioning on the autism spectrum.

“He woke up before me this morning, which is unusual,” Shawn said.

Shawn called the Bucyrus Police Department and was told they would begin searching for the boy.

Shawn and Nicole, Simon’s parents, have a shared parenting agreement.

“I called Nicole and her parents, and my mom in Wooster to tell them Simon was missing,” said Shawn.

Nicole said she immediately drove to Bucyrus from her home in Marion with Simon’s little sister, Mya.

“I came immediately and we began searching the area,” Nicole said.

Connie and Dave Welborn and Judy Snyder, Simon’s grandparents, joined in the search.

“Shawn texted me about 10:15 a.m. and told me Simon was missing. My heart sank,” said Judy.

Shawn said the first place he looked was at Simon’s friend’s house, down the street.

“Simon goes down there to play so I thought he would be there but no one was home,” said Shawn.

Connie said Simon normally wears a smartwatch that has a GPS feature but did not have it on when he went missing.

“His watch is here at the house and so is his winter coat, and it’s cold outside,” said Connie, during the search.

Shawn, along with Bucyrus Police and several others, tried to contact the neighbor by phone and through Facebook. When efforts to contact the family failed, the police department and family members posted on Facebook asking for help in locating the child.

At least 200 people searched the area, including the golf course and fairgrounds that are close to Simon’s home.

Bucyrus resident Kurt Fankhauser used his drone to search along the Whetstone Street railroad tracks and the fairgrounds while the Bucyrus Chapter of the Guardian Angels searched the golf course area.

Simon’s older brother, 18-year-old Graham, woke up at his girlfriend’s house to a call from his dad that Simon was missing.

“I was so scared. I went to Walmart and printed photos of him and talked to people there. I also went to Suburban Lanes and other businesses in the area to see if Simon had been there,” Graham said. “It was the most stressful experience of my life. Images kept popping in my head and it was going to be dark soon. I really thought we may not find him.”

Graham and his family were relieved when Shawn received a call around 5:30 p.m. from Bucyrus Police.

“They had reached Simon’s friend and his mom. Simon was with them at the YMCA in Mansfield all day,” Shawn said.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said that Simon came to her house and said he had permission to go with them. She said he had gone home and brought back money to spend on the trip.

Shawn said that Simon did not wake him up and ask permission to go with the family and that the money he had was birthday money Simon had in his bedroom.

The woman said she thought Simon’s father knew about the trip but in hindsight, should have spoken with him herself. She said Simon has played at her house many times but admitted he had never gone anywhere with her and her children before in her vehicle.

Nicole said she is upset that the woman did not ask permission to take her son to Mansfield.

“No one should ever take someone’s child with them without asking a parent for permission. Kids will be kids and say they are allowed to do something, whether they are or not, so people should always talk to the parent first,” Nicole said.

Shawn, Nicole and Simon’s entire family said they are grateful to the community for everyone’s help in searching for Simon and praying for him to be found safely.

“We are so thankful to everyone who helped look for Simon,” Shawn said.

Nicole and Shawn said they will check into obtaining an alarm-type system for Shawn’s house through the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.

“We want to do everything we can to keep him safe,” said Nicole.