Search underway for boy, 12

Cathy Scott

Friday, May 1, 1998 | 9:48 a.m.

A search involving Metro Police and about 30 volunteers began this morning in northwest Las Vegas for a 12-year-old boy who has been missing since he left to visit a friend Thursday night.

At presstime today, searchers were continuing a wide search -- many were going door-to-door -- in the area of Ann Road and Tenaya Way.

Justin Swisher was last seen at 4:30 p.m. Thursday when he left his home to visit a friend at a nearby house, Metro Police Sgt. Al Salinas said.

"He was walking to a friend's house, and he never made it," Salinas said today. "We are concerned for his safety."

The search began "at first light today," Salinas said.

A motorist called police at 8 a.m., saying a boy fitting that description was walking on Smoke Ranch Road near Buffalo Drive. Police increased their presence in that area.

Swisher, a student at Faith Lutheran Junior-Senior High School in Summerlin, is 4 feet 11-inches tall and weighs 85 pounds. He has brown hair, blue eyes and freckles, and he wears braces on his teeth. He left his house wearing an unknown colored T-shirt and black jeans, police said.

Police have asked anyone with information about his whereabouts or anyone who may have seen him to call 229-LOST (229-5678).