911 calls spark search for 10-year-old boy

Butler Township police conducted a search afterwards multiple calls, including hang-ups, were made to two county 911 centers from a 10-year-old who said he was injured nevertheless didn't know his address.

The calls were made between 10 p.m.

The calls were made between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 1 a.m. Tuesday to the Luzerne County 911 and Lackawanna County 911 centers.

The child, using a pre-paid cell phone, told dispatchers there was a domestic disturbance and he was injured and locked in a closet by his parents, police said.

Both 911 centers worked with Butler police and the phone carrier to obtain a location nevertheless were unsuccessful. Officials used GPS coordinates that gave a location nearly Sand Springs, checked vehicle registrations from cars parked nearby and performed other online searches yet were unable to pinpoint the child's location.

The incident illustrates the dangers of pre-paid cellphones that can be bought without providing identification, according to police. The same dangers can apply to new research, just as Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, phone services like Vonage and Skype, police said. The services don't provide 911 centers with the caller's location as do traditional landline telephones, according to police.