Two emotional reunions after disappearances

WAKE COUNTY/ORANGE COUNTY

Twenty-nine-year-old Adam Root was found four hours after he walked away from Learning Services Inc. - an east Raleigh facility that specializes in helping people with brain injuries.

At the same time police were searching for Root, authorities were scouring the area for 12-year-old Steven Holsey, who disappeared at Little River Park in Orange County.

Both were found about four hours after disappearing.

Raleigh police found Root, who suffered a brain injury in a motocross accident 17 months ago, on New Bern Avenue not too far from the Robbins Drive facility where he was last seen.

"Normally, I pick him up around 3:15 p.m., but I was running a little late today and I think he just walked out the front door to try and find me," Adam Root's wife Amy Root said.

She said her husband's accident left him confused and unable to remember basic information.

She and the couple's daughter said Root wandered into a nearby wooded area.

For hours, police scoured the area looking for him. Dozens of volunteers also turned out to help with the search, as the temperatures dropped - hoping the night would end happily.

"We knew he was out there," searcher Debbie Coulter said. "We knew we would find him. We just wanted to find him before he was injured or suffered in the cold. So we're just so grateful."

Root's wife later took her husband to UNC Hospitals to be checked out; because it appeared, he may have fallen while he was lost.

"Adam's not harmed, he's completely fine and I believe it's just by the power of God," Amy Root said.

Not long after Roots happy reunion, authorities in Orange County reunited Holsey with his parents around 8:30 p.m.

He was last seen in the restrooms at the Little River Park off Guess Road around 4:15 p.m.

His parents said he's afraid of lights and sounds, which made the search for him especially difficult at night fall.

Orange and Durham County Sheriff's Deputies combed the area with K-9 units. They even called for a National Guard helicopter - with a fleer camera - before a deputy finally spotted the boy about a half mile from where he disappeared.

"He was here with his caretaker, he was in the bathroom .. she bent to tie her shoe .. he disappeared," Holsey's father Mickey Holsey said. "When you have a kid like Steven you're always looking for him. I've never had 100 people looking for him. I never expected him to be found."

EMS crews on scene examined Holsey and said he was okay.

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