10-year-old found safe after going missing from school Monday morning

Winnipeg police have found a 10-year-old boy who went missing after his mother dropped him off at school Monday morning.

He was last seen around 8:20 a.m. when he was dropped off at École Viscount Alexander in the Point Road area, police said.

The boy's aunt said his mother saw him go into the school yard, at which point she went to work. The family says they received notice the boy was missing around 11 a.m.

The family says he was found at his old school, École Crane, about a 20 minute walk away.

The boy's aunt spoke to members of the media around 4 p.m. after the boy had been found.

"We don't know where he was, his boots are all muddy his clothes are all disheveled but he's talking to his parents right now and he seems safe," she said.

"I could cry all night … I'm just so thankful that he's home safe where he belongs."

Ted Fransen, superintendent of the Pembina Trails School Division, told CBC News the family was not notified until 11 a.m. because the school experienced a power outage around 9 a.m. and were unable to access their contact information.

"If it had been any other day, the parents would have been notified right away, 9 o'clock," he said.

"We do have a backup system that does work, and the school did not get access to that system as quickly as they should have and could have, and we certainly regret that that happened."

Fransen said the school is reviewing its policies to make sure that, in the future, staff can access the backup system.

"We're so relieved that our staff, one of our teachers in fact, found [him] safe and sound," he said.