WGNO

Florida garbage truck driver finds lost 2-year-old boy, helps reunite him with parents

Generic Waste Management garbage truck. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A garbage truck driver in Florida helped reunite a lost toddler with his parents Tuesday after he was found alone in a park.

Robert Riley was in the Lazydays RV Resort in Seffner, Florida, located about 13 miles east of downtown Tampa, when he noticed a child wandering alone in a park near a roadway.


Riley watched the toddler for several minutes and when no parent came, he approached the barefoot boy, took his hand and called 911.

When a Hillsborough County deputy arrived, they worked with resort security to help return the 2-year-old boy safely to his parents.

According to Waste Management, drivers are trained in a program called Waste Watch to “act as an extra set of eyes and ears for law enforcement and emergency personnel in their communities, and report emergencies or any unusual activity that see during their routes.”