By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — A 12-year-old Canadian boy went missing from FAO Schwarz in Midtown Thursday, sparking a massive manhunt before he was found safely in Times Square, police said.
The boy was seen on video surveillance leaving the store, on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, with someone who was not related to him just before 2:15 p.m., a source said.
More than two dozen police vehicles, a helicopter and scores of officers flooded the area after the boy was reported missing. He was found unharmed in Times Square on the pedestrian mall about 6 p.m.
He had apparently wandered away from his family and tried to walk back to his hotel alone, police said.
Police did not suspect any criminality in the incident. There was speculation among authorities that the boy happened to leave the store at the same time as someone else, but wasn't necessarily with that person, the New York Post reported.
News of his disappearance had spread quickly throughout the store earlier in the day, panicking some of the customers.
"It scares the heck out of me," said Julie Berry, 38, who is visiting from Los Angeles with her two daughters and one son.
"I'm holding them tight."
