The disappearance of 12-year-old Ryan “RJ” Davis in rural Oklahoma began as a frantic search for a missing child and quickly widened into a sweeping abuse investigation targeting his own household. His mother, Kimberly Cole, and stepfather, George Cole, were arrested on child abuse allegations even as authorities insisted they believed the boy was still alive. Days later, RJ was found safe, but the criminal case against the adults who were supposed to protect him is only growing more severe.
Investigators now describe a pattern of alleged physical and sexual abuse that unfolded long before RJ ran away from the family’s home near Chickasha. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and local agencies say the case is no longer just about a missing child, but about how a 12-year-old ended up fleeing into winter fields to escape what prosecutors now call a crime scene.
From missing child to high-stakes rescue
Authorities say Ryan “RJ” Davis vanished after leaving his home near Chickasha earlier this month, triggering a multi-agency search across parts of Grady and CADDO COUNTY, Okla. As the hours stretched into days, The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation publicly stressed that agents believed the boy was alive and focused on finding him before exposure or injury could turn the case into a recovery instead of a rescue. That confidence, officials later explained, was rooted in evidence gathered from the home and surrounding area that suggested RJ had run away rather than been abducted, even as they quietly pursued search warrants tied to potential abuse.
By the time OSBI publicly announced on a Sunday that Ryan Davis had been located, the search had drawn in local police, volunteers and specialized groups such as the United Cajun Navy, which deployed teams to scour fields and waterways near Cement, Oklahoma. Officials said the 12-year-old was ultimately found alive near Cement after more than a week on his own, a result that one summary of Key Points described as locating Ryan Davis close to his parents’ home. Search leaders later recounted how RJ told rescuers “I’m sorry” when they reached him, a detail reported in coverage by Dale Denwalt, underscoring how the boy seemed to shoulder guilt for surviving a situation adults are now charged with creating.
Mother and stepfather face sweeping abuse charges
Even before RJ was found, investigators had turned their attention to what was happening inside the Cole household. Online jail records show that George Cole, the boy’s stepfather, was booked in CADDO COUNTY, Okla., on a slate of child abuse counts after detectives reviewed medical findings and statements tied to the case. One detailed complaint notes that George Cole faces eight counts of child abuse, one count of child sexual abuse and one count of child neglect, allegations that were outlined in charging documents linked to George Cole. A separate filing notes that HER HUSBAND, GEORGE, COLE, JUNIOR is accused of crimes that include child sexual abuse and what Oklahoma law describes as crimes against nature, reflecting prosecutors’ view that the alleged conduct was both violent and exploitative.
Kimberly Cole, RJ’s biological mother, is now charged alongside him. Prosecutors say Kimberly Cole faces three counts of child abuse, two counts of child neglect and additional accusations related to crimes against nature, according to charging information summarized in local filings. Another report notes that HER HUSBAND, GEORGE COLE JUNIOR, is facing ten charges in total, eight for child abuse, one for child sex abuse and one for child neglect, while investigators credit law enforcement and the community for bringing RJ home alive, details that appear in a summary tied to HER HUSBAND. Officials say both adults were already in custody on these counts by the time OSBI publicly confirmed that RJ had been found safe, a sequence that underscores how the missing-person investigation and the abuse case quickly became intertwined.
Inside the search, the warnings and the fallout
As the search intensified, OSBI took the unusual step of publicly offering a reward for RJ’s safe return, signaling how seriously the state viewed the risk to a 12-year-old alone in winter conditions. A statewide bulletin noted that OSBI was offering money for information leading to the location and safe return of 12-year-old RJ Davis and urged anyone with tips to contact agents, according to a detailed account of the OSBI alert. Around the same time, a viral clip labeled as Breaking news and narrated by a reporter identified as Geo told viewers that authorities believed the boy last seen on a Monday afternoon is still alive, a message that matched investigators’ public insistence that they were racing to rescue, not recover, the child, as seen in a Breaking update.
Behind the scenes, OSBI and Chickasha police were already signaling that RJ would not be going back to the environment he had fled. In an official statement shared by the United Cajun Navy, authorities declared in all caps that “THIS CHILD WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THAT HOME,” a blunt promise that the boy would remain in protective custody while investigators pursued additional pattern criminal offenses and prepared the case for court, language reflected in a post that highlighted the phrase CHILD WILL NOT. Officials later confirmed that RJ was taken for medical tests at an area hospital and placed under state supervision, details that appear in a report by Jonathan Greco, Digital Media Manager, who noted that online records now show George Cole, who is the stepfather of the 12-year-old boy who went missing for over a week, faces numerous child abuse charges and that the child underwent tests at an area hospital.
A rare happy ending, a deepening criminal case
For search teams, the moment RJ was found alive near Cement was a rare bright spot in a line of work that often ends in grief. One rescuer told a reporter, “I mean, we’ve been on plenty of these when it’s been the other way, so when you get to bring one home, it’s pretty rewarding,” a reflection captured in coverage of the boy found alive after running away from his mother and stepfather who are accused of abuse. National outlets quickly picked up the story, noting that the missing Oklahoma boy was found safe after his mom and stepfather were arrested on multiple counts of child abuse, a sequence summarized in an account that described how the child was located following days of searching and prayer, as detailed in a report on the missing Oklahoma boy. Another write-up by Bill Hutchinson noted that, by the time Live streaming newscasts carried the update, both Kimberly Cole and George Cole were already in custody on alleged child abuse counts, and that volunteer search-and-rescue group members had played a key role in locating RJ, details tied to Hutchinson.
The legal fallout has continued to widen. A follow-up report noted that KOCO is still working to determine how RJ got to the property where he was found, but that volunteers had searched the surrounding area for more than a week and that one community member said they “thank God that he’s alive,” according to a summary that credits KOCO. Another detailed breakdown of the case notes that Locate 12-year-old Ryan Davis alive near Cement has now shifted into a prosecution phase, with the district attorney processing the charges against both adults and OSBI continuing to investigate other alleged crimes tied to the home, as outlined in the Locate summary. For now, authorities say the priority is ensuring RJ’s safety and building a case that reflects the full scope of what they believe happened before a terrified 12-year-old chose to disappear into the Oklahoma countryside rather than stay under his own roof.
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