Missing Huntley boy found after community wide search

HUNTLEY – On Saturday, May 8 at around 4 p.m., the Huntley Police Department sent out an alert regarding a missing child that was last seen in the area of Douglas Avenue and Timer Drive at around 3 p.m. that day.

The missing boy was identified as five-year-old Cooper Dziekanski. The Huntley Police Department advised individuals assisting in the search, to remain in their vehicles as there were also search dogs being used and did not want their efforts to be hampered.

Several members of the community rallied together to do a neighborhood wide search for the missing boy, with the Huntley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Huntley Citizens Police Academy also being called in to join the search.

After about a two-hour search, Cooper was reported to be found hiding in a neighbor’s bush, close to his own home. It was speculated that he may have fallen asleep in the bushes while playing outside.

Mark Dziekanski, Cooper’s father, publicly thanked the Huntley community for their efforts in locating his son.

“Thank you to the whole community for coming out today and help us look for our boy. He has been found! Thank you all very much! You are all the greatest,” Mark said in a Facebook post.

Cooper’s mother, Tracy, also made a public statement on her Facebook account sharing how grateful she was to have had such a strong network of support from the Huntley community.

“We would like to thank each and every one of you that helped with looking for our son Cooper today. Words cannot express how thankful we are to all of you! The amount of people that came out to search for him was overwhelming! We truly live in an incredible community here in Huntley. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You are all incredible,” Tracy wrote.

The Facebook post received an outpour of support from fellow Huntley residents sharing in the excitement of Cooper’s safe return home.

Tracy thanked everyone commenting on her post ending her statement with, “I’m extra blessed this Mother’s Day because [Cooper] is home safe!”