Horry County authorities searching for missing boy, 4 | Myrtle Beach Sun News

Teams of emergency workers and volunteers continued searching past 1 a.m. on Christmas day, for a 4-year-old boy reported missing from his grandmother’s house, where he was visiting for the holiday.

Near midnight the boy’s mother, Tabatha Morrison, stood outside her mother’s house on Sultana Drive, with her hands clutched near her lips as firefighters and others moved between the nearby homes looking for her son. She said ``Please ask people to keep us in their prayers to bring him home safely.’’

Police said they began searching for Jayden Morrison around 6 p.m., after receiving a call from the child’s grandmother that he was missing, last seen wearing red and orange footie pajamas, according to Sgt. Stephen Phillips of Horry County police. His grandmother reported him missing. Authorities said the search was focused in the Little River area near Highway 111 and Horseshoe Road, north of U.S. 17.

Tabatha Morrison said the family had arrived at her mother’s house from New York before about 8 a.m. to begin the Christmas celebration together. She left earlier in the day to go to Walmart to buy toys for Christmas gifts, she said.

She didn’t bring gifts for the children from New York because they wouldn’t fit in the car, she said.

“Mom called me at the store and said she couldn’t find him,’’ Morrison said. She said she rushed to the house and when she got there some emergency workers already were there. She also looked through the neighborhood, but never found her son, she said.

``He’s never done anything like this before. He’s 4 years old. He’s never been out of my eyesight,” she said.

Morrison said Jayden, who has a twin named Jordan, is autistic and nonverbal. Also he will not respond to his name if called, she said. She also said he is not familiar with his grandmother’s neighborhood and likely would not be able to find his way back to her home on his own.

“The houses here all look the same,” she said. “At home he would be able to point out his house,” she said.

Several residents who volunteered to help Wednesday said they responded after hearing in the news that the child was missing.

Christy Allen and her sons Gavin, 12, and Ethan, 9, were out searching with flashlights.

She said it didn’t matter that it was Christmas Eve.

Anyone with information is asked to call Horry County Police at 248-1520.