Missing boy locks himself in trunk

<p>Tragedy was averted Sunday when a missing 4-year-old Rohnert Park boy was discovered inside a locked car trunk and freed by rescuers who heard him crying.</p><p>Police officers were called to the Autumn Hills complex on Harbor Lane at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday by a hysterical mother who couldn't find her son, Sgt. Jeff Nicks said.</p><p>The boy had been outside on a scooter minutes before but had disappeared, the mother said.</p><p>During a search, a neighbor said they could hear a child crying. The searchers listened and could hear the boy crying, from inside the car's trunk. He'd apparently crawled inside and pulled the trunk closed.</p><p>The temperature Sunday was in the high 80s, Nicks said. Officers said if the boy hadn't been found quickly, he might have been overcome by the heat inside the trunk and unable to cry for help.</p><p>Nicks said the incident is a reminder about hot summer days and the heat inside cars, warning drivers to lock their cars and not allow children to play in or around them.</p>