JIM THORPE -- A 12-year-old boy is now home safe with his family after he went missing for 12 hours in Jim Thorpe.
Mason Pachulski disappeared Monday morning and was found around 7 p.m.
“I`m sorry,” a dirt-smudged Mason Pachulski apologized to the cameras as his mother stood behind him.
The 12 year old was found safe after going missing for 12 hours.
Mason admitted to leaving his house on Center Avenue on his own and staying hidden while a massive search for him ensued.
“He just decided he was going to go for a walk, not go to school today. I don`t know why. He hasn't told us,” said Mason’s mother Georgeann Pachulski.
Mason's parents reported the boy missing after he disappeared from their backyard around 7 a.m.
Mason had said he was going out back to feed his fish before leaving for school.
The day long search involved more than 100 people, K-9 units, and state police helicopter that searched the wooded areas around Mason's house.
Mason's parents could only wait and fear the worst.
“We just don’t know what happened. Where did he go? Did someone grab him? Did someone take him?” said Georgeann. “And if they did, we don’t know that because we have no idea.”
Then around 7 p.m., Mason was found just blocks from his home.
“He was spotted down in the area of 99 Center Avenue here in the borough of Jim Thorpe,” said Jim Thorpe Police Chief Joe Schatz. “Officers had gone down there and had located Mason down in the wooded area.”
For those involved in this effort, today was a very good day.
“It`s a happy ending. We're all thrilled that it turned out the way it did because he's safe,” said Mark Nalesnik, the director of the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency.
“Yes, very glad he’s alright and not hurt, not seriously hurt,” said Georgeann.
The Jim Thorpe police chief says while it's not clear why Mason ran away, he does not believe any charges will be filed.