Police search for missing 13-year-old Nathaniel Cruz in Hyattsville
Police are searching for 13-year-old Nathaniel Cruz, missing from Hyattsville, as county and state officials urge residents to call 911 immediately with any tip.
Nathaniel Cruz, 13, is missing from Hyattsville, and Prince George’s County police are asking neighbors to move fast if they have seen him. In this part of District I, which also includes Bladensburg, Brentwood, Cheverly, College Park, Greenbelt, Mount Rainier, Riverdale Park and University Park, a child under 15 is treated as a critical missing person, a designation that can accelerate the response.
County police say they close more than 99% of missing-person cases, but the first hours still matter. Maryland State Police says there is no waiting period to report someone missing in Maryland, and families should search the home and nearby area immediately, then call 911 with the child’s name, age, height, weight, clothing and any other unique identifiers. If the child is missing from a store or other public place, state police says to alert the manager or security office first and then call 911.
Prince George’s County keeps a public missing persons portal with active case listings, and recent child alerts show the kind of details that can help the public spot someone quickly. A county notice for 12-year-old Amyra Green listed the last-seen date and time, the exact block in Temple Hills, the clothing she was wearing and the Missing Persons Section phone number, 301-772-8970. That level of detail gives residents a better chance of recognizing a child and passing along a useful tip.
For families in Hyattsville and across Prince George’s County, the reporting chain is straightforward: call 911 if safety is at risk, or the county’s non-emergency line at 301-352-1200 and press option 5 for police dispatch. Maryland’s center for missing and unidentified persons can also help investigators and families with support such as DNA and dental records, and it can be reached at 800-637-5437. Prince George’s County police, the fourth-largest law-enforcement agency in Maryland with an authorized strength of 1,786 officers and a service population of more than 968,000 residents and business owners, says missing-child cases are a routine priority, not a waiting game.
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