Toddler found wandering alone in North Fort Myers

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. A 3-year-old boy was seen wandering alone in the Suncoast Estates community Saturday morning wearing only a dirty diaper, the sheriff’s office said.

Megan McClees, the neighbor who found the boy near Gish Lane and McDaniel Drive, said he was covered in scratches, bites and bruises, prompting her to take him inside and call 911.

“It could’ve been someone different picking up that little boy,” she said. “The biggest thing I wanted was to make sure the boy was safe.”

Lee County deputies and the Department of Children and Families responded to the home.

The father’s girlfriend put him to bed around 11 p.m. Friday night and didn’t realize he was missing until this morning, according to deputies.

Russel Cowart, the boy’s father, claims he wasn’t gone for long before the sheriff’s office received the call.

“I got up this morning at 9:30,” he said. “At 9:55, I left the house to go to work and my video surveillance cameras all around my house show at 10:05, he was unlocking the front door, letting my dog out to play (and) to use the bathroom. Him and my 10-year-old son both were out here playing.”

Cowart added that the boy stayed in the front yard and was never wandering the streets.

However, McClees argued she didn’t see anyone else outside.

“Not one person came over, not one person walked, not one person was running up and down screaming like I would if my child was missing for two hours,” she said.

Coward picked his son up from a hospital Saturday afternoon and the boy is in good health, he said.

The DCF couldn’t be reached for comment.