Cops: Smithtown tot wandered out front door

A 2 1/2-year-old boy wandered out of his unlocked Smithtown home early Thursday but was found by a motorist and reunited with his parents, officials said.

No charges were filed against the parents, who did not know the toddler was gone until notified by a phone call generated by the CodeRed emergency notification system, police said.

"This happens every now and again -- that kids walk out of the home," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. "It is unusual, but it happens. We called child protective services to check out the situation at the home and they have done that and the child was released to the parents. Everything seems to be OK."

The motorist discovered the child about 1:30 a.m. walking near his home, in a busy area near the intersection of Townline Road and Terry Road.

The motorist, who was not named by police because he wished to remain anonymous, did not have his cellphone with him and brought the child to his house about a mile away, where he called police.

Police took the boy to the Fourth Precinct and searched for his parents.

Officers had canvassed the neighborhood near where the boy was found and had stopped at a home that later turned out to be where the boy's parents live. The door was open but no one answered and police, who didn't have a warrant, did not enter.

After 6 a.m., authorities decided to use the CodeRed system to phone almost 1,200 people living within a half-mile radius of where the child was found.

The high-speed telephone communication service delivers customized prerecorded emergency messages directly to Suffolk County homes and business.

The parents received the call at their home, checked the boy's bedroom and discovered their child was missing. They were reunited with him at the precinct.

No one answered the door at the boy's home Thursday.

CodeRed, put in place in 2010, has been used before, but this was the first time it assisted with a missing child, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said at a news conference.

"This a story with a happy ending," Levy said. "This is a case where, thanks to a Good Samaritan and a great system called CodeRed in Suffolk County, we have been able to return a 2-year-old boy back to his parents safely."