Police: Boy, 3, wandered from home, fatally hit on road

PATTERSON SPRINGS, N.C. – A 3-year-old boy is dead after police say he wandered away from a rural North Carolina home before dawn and was hit on a nearby road.

News outlets report that the North Carolina Highway Patrol says the boy was struck by two vehicles early Wednesday in the community of Patterson Springs and was killed.

Police Sgt. Ray Pierce says one driver spotted the boy on the shoulder and stopped, but couldn’t reach him in time.

Pierce says the boy’s parents were working third-shift jobs at the time and caregivers didn’t know the boy was gone. How he got out is still under investigation.

Pierce says both drivers who hit the boy stayed on the scene and aren’t expected to face charges.