Search for boy from Texas, 3, last seen playing outside with a dog

Authorities in Texas are looking for a 3-year-old boy last seen playing outside with the family’s dog on Wednesday.

Christopher Ramirez was outside the family home in Plantersville, northwest Houston, around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.

His mother, Araceli Nunez, said he noticed he was gone only two minutes later. She ran out shouting his name, she told reporters on Thursday, and a neighbor said she saw the boy chasing the dog down the street.

“She ran fast, called out his name and he never answered,” said Grimes County Sheriff’s Sgt. said Martha Smith, translating Nunez’s comments into Spanish.

Nunez said she believed someone had her son.

Investigators have found no evidence of foul play or kidnapping, but exclude nothing, said Grimes County Sheriff Donald Sowell.

“Nothing has come to indicate it, as we speak,” Sowell said. “We are exploring all possibilities.”

The researchers have used dogs, helicopters and drones, as well as groups such as Texas EquuSearch, and are also helping, Sowell said. Over 150 people were involved in the search for Christopher.

The family have been cooperative, as have the neighborhood residents, some of whom have cameras on their property, the sheriff said.

“She is begging for help, for someone to help her find her son. He needs his mother,” Smith said, translating the mother’s comments to reporters Thursday.

The boy was last seen wearing a bright green shirt, shorts and red Mickey Mouse shoes, officials said.