A 14-year-old runaway managed to hide out in a Wal-Mart and go unnoticed there for over two days.

The boy, whose name has not been released, was discovered by employees of the store, ran away from his aunt's home in Rice, TX, to the store in the town of Coriscana, about 50 miles southeast of Dallas. The woman said her nephew was staying with her while his parents were out of town, and that he had slipped away out of her house while she was watching television. 

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Authorities say the child has a history of running away, although in the past he had chosen abandoned properties. This most recent incident occurred on July 28.

Wal-Mart employees found the runaway hiding in a makeshift campsite behind a display of baby strollers, and soon after discovered another site behind a stack of toilet tissue and paper towels. Living off of food available in the store, the boy wore pilfered diapers in order to avoid being seen going to the bathroom. At one of the sites, the boy had been found to even be keeping a goldfish as a pet.

Workers of the 24-hour store called officers around 11 PM after discovering a trail of food wrappings that led to the teen's hideaways. The boy, who was described as being in "fine condition," was taken into custody and then released to his relatives. Officials did not say if charges would be filed. 

Police did not contact Child Protective Services for lack of any evidence the teen was fleeing an abusive environment. The county Juvenile Probation Office is now looking into the case. The Coriscana Wal-Mart and its employees are not suspected of any wrongdoing, but company officials said they "are looking into the case" as a precautionary measure.

TagsWal-Mart