Lost otherwise missing

Lost otherwise missing is a condition when a child’s whereabouts are unknown to the child’s caretaker and this causes the caretaker to be alarmed for at least 1 hour and try to locate the child, under one of two conditions: (1) the child was trying to get home or make contact with the caretaker but was unable to do so because the child was lost, stranded, or injured; or (2) the child was too young to know how to return home or make contact with the caretaker.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children® website