A six-year-old boy who cannot speak a single word to ask for help has been missing since Sunday morning from a Riverdale, Georgia apartment complex — and as of Monday, no one knows where he is.
Ramon Jett, who everybody calls RJ, was last seen between 11:30 a.m. and noon on June 28 at the Sutter Lake Apartments on 8104 Webb Road in Riverdale. He’s barely three-and-a-half feet tall, weighs about 40 pounds, and was wearing a light green shirt, camouflage shorts, and white socks when he walked out the door. His mom, Ashleigh Harris, wasn’t home. She was at work. Her older daughter — RJ’s adult sister — was watching him. The two of them had laid down for a nap around 11 a.m., and when the sister woke up, the front door was wide open and the little boy was just gone.
What makes this thing so terrifying is that RJ is autistic, has ADHD, and is completely nonverbal. He cannot call for help. He cannot tell a stranger his name. He can’t dial 911. He can’t even knock on a neighbor’s door and say a word. Clayton County Police said it plainly: “Due to his condition, he may be unable to communicate or seek help, and officers are deeply concerned for his safety. Every minute is critical.” Those words hit different when you picture a 40-pound child alone somewhere in the Georgia heat.
One neighbor told police they spotted a little boy matching RJ’s description heading toward the lake — with a popsicle in hand, like it was just a regular Sunday afternoon stroll. K-9 units picked up his scent heading in that same direction, toward the pond sitting right behind the building. Clayton County Police dive teams were in the water by 8 p.m. Sunday. Drones buzzed overhead. Detectives fanned out. The search went through the night.
Major Frank Thomas of Clayton County PD explained something that cuts deep when you hear it. The family wasn’t even staying at their regular home. They were visiting the sister’s apartment. Back at their usual place, they kept special high locks on the doors specifically because RJ had pulled this before — gone missing, though in a smaller area each time. But at the sister’s apartment, those safety precautions weren’t in place. “The home here had safety door handles which he was able to manipulate,” Thomas said. Just like that, the door opened and the boy walked out into the world completely alone.
RJ’s mom told reporters she found out the hard way that her son had already taught himself how to work the handle. She said he’s drawn to numbers, letters, and nursery rhymes — the kind of things that might catch a little kid’s eye and pull him further and further away from home. She’s begging anyone who spots him to use his nickname. “Call him by his nickname. That might make him more welcome,” she said, holding onto hope that her boy is somewhere safe, just waiting to hear a familiar sound.
Neighbor Demeca Evans, who joined the search volunteers sweeping the sprawling complex, said what most people in that crowd were already feeling. “I got kids and I got a grandson that age,” she told reporters, her voice heavy. “I would be devastated to know that he was not in our presence or missing. I’m praying for the mother and the parents, and I really pray that they find this baby.” As Monday morning came and RJ was still not found, that prayer was still very much needed. Anyone with information is urged to call 911 immediately and not assume someone else already made the call.
