Boy and his dog abandoned in Ohio cemetery before Christmas

A community has rallied around a boy after he and his dog were left abandoned in an Ohio cemetery just two days before Christmas. 

Police responded to a call on Wednesday afternoon after a witness reported seeing a blue car driving away from the cemetery, with the boy and the dog running after it. 

Officers from the Hinckley Police Department responded to the call at 12:16pm to find the three-year-old boy alone with the dog in Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Hinckley.  

The boy, who gave his name as Tony (pictured above), was abandoned at Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Hinckley just two days before Christmas 

On arrival officers met with the witness who advised that she had stopped at the cemetery and observed a blue mid-sized car parked semi blocking the drive in the northeast corner of the cemetery. 

As she drove around the vehicle and stopped, she saw the vehicle drive away at high speed. It was then that she observed a little boy running after the car followed by a dog. 

The vehicle left the cemetery and went west on SR303 towards Brunswick. 

The boy gave his name as Tony but could only identify his parents by their first names. 

The child was taken into custody with child services and placed in the ‘loving’ home of a foster family, police said. 

Officers have since identified the boy’s parents and said Tony’s father has been ‘very cooperative.’ 

A relative of the boy recognised the photo of him published in local media and contacted Tony’s father. 

After word spread about the incident among the local community and beyond, the lobby of the Hinckley Police Department became flooded with clothes and gifts for the boy

He called the police and indicated that Tony had been in the custody of his mother when he and his dog were abandoned at the cemetery. 

After word spread about the incident among the local community and beyond, the lobby of the Hinckley Police Department became flooded with clothes and gifts for the boy.

The donations came from across Medina County and Northeast Ohio. 

In a statement, Hinckley Police Department said: ‘While the investigation is still on going with a lot of questions still unanswered I want to assure everyone that Tony is doing very well in the loving home of a foster family here in Medina County. 

‘His Dad has been very cooperative with us and Children Services in the investigation. I will release further information when I can.

‘I would like to thank everyone for their kindness in wanting to buy Christmas presents for Tony, take him in and adopt him. 

‘You all are amazing people and why we have such a great community here in Hinckley, all of Medina County and beyond.

Officers responded to Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery, pictured above, in Hinkley on Wednesday and found the little boy identified as Tony alone with his dog

‘If anyone would like to buy a Christmas present for Tony we will accept them at Hinckley PD and see that they get to him as soon as possible. He is a typical 3 1/2 year old little boy and is a size 4T/5T if that helps.’  

 Chief David Centner took to Facebook a day later, on Christmas Eve, to post a picture of the police department lobby full of gifts. ‘From all of us at HPD we want to thank everyone for your kindness, thoughts, prayers and overwhelming love,’ he wrote. 

‘Our lobby is full from the gifts that have been dropped off. I reached out to my friend Santa and tomorrow morning after he has finished his deliveries he is going to stop at HPD. 

‘We are going to load the sleigh and make one final stop to see a our little friend.’

Hinckley Police Chief David Centner told FOX 8 on Monday afternoon that no criminal charges have yet been filed, and detectives and case workers are continuing their investigation.