Update: Missing Cobb Teen Is Safe

Update, 6:59 p.m.

At about 3:30 p.m., 16-year-old Wilford Hardnett was located in good condition walking on the Marietta Country Club golf course off Stilesboro Road, Sgt. Dana Pierce, spokesman for the Cobb County Police Department, said just before 7 p.m. Saturday.

Original report, 11:40 a.m.

Cobb County authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in helping them locate a missing 16-year-old special needs boy.

According to Cobb Police, Wilford Hardnett was last seen walking eastbound on Dallas Highway towards Lost Mountain Park after jumping out of the window of a Cobb County special needs school bus about 4:25 p.m. Friday. 

Hardnett may have also been sighted Friday between 6:30 and 7 p.m. in the area of Lost Mountain Park, and again Saturday morning in the area of East Paulding Drive in Paulding County.

Authorities from Cobb County police and fire, Georgia State Patrol, Cobb Emergency Response Team and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office have all been searching since Hardnett was reported missing.

Hardnett is described as a black male, 6 feet 1 inches tall and 180 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans that appear to be too short with red designs on the front of them, and black sneakers.

Anyone with information about Wilford Hardnett is asked to call 911.