A 14-year-old boy was able to live inside a Texas Walmart for days before employees found him, police said Wednesday.
Living off food he stole from the grocery section, the teenager made the Walmart in Corsicana his home for nearly three days until he was discovered, CBS DFW reported. He managed to create not one, but two campsites- one behind boxes of strollers in the baby aisle and another behind columns of paper towels and toilet paper.
"You never expect that you're at Walmart and someone has been living there," Walmart customer Myrna Aguilar told CBS. "That's crazy."
The teen made his home cozier by keeping a fish he stole from the pet department. Afraid of being detected if he used the restroom, the unnamed teen used diapers instead, store employees said. He also changed his clothes every few hours to avoid suspicion.
The boy's accumulated garbage led to his downfall. Employees found him on July 30 and called Corsicana police, who then returned the 14-year-old to his family.
Police learned the teen's parents were out of town and he was staying at his aunt's house when he ran away on July 28.
Child Protective Services were not called because the boy did not appear to have been subjected to abuse or was living in a harmful environment, police told CBS DFW.
Police said CPS would have been notified if the child was in danger.
After the incident the boy's mother told police her son has run away on multiple occasions, hiding out in abandoned homes and businesses, the station reported.
At this time Walmart has shown no signs of pressing charges against the teenager.
"I'm wondering what his parents think, and how come he didn't come home, and why they aren't worried about him," Megan Nicholson, another Walmart customer, told the station.
