MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Police swarmed the Wesley Road area of Mandeville on Wednesday evening following reported sightings of a child believed to be the missing Manchester High schoolboy Jayden Smith.

This after they were alerted by citizens that a child matching his description eluded passersby who tried to approach him.

READ: Search for missing Manchester schoolboy to intensify

Observer Online saw several police personnel and citizens combing the area about 6:00 pm moments after the child was spotted.

An eyewitness explaining what she saw said the child ran off when citizens tried to approach him.

“I was driving when I saw him and a man was calling out to people for help. [The boy] was running. There was a taxi that was passing at that time too, but [the boy] ran off by the time I turned my car around,” she said.

READ: Search for missing Manchester schoolboy to continue tomorrow

Police confirmed that they were alerted by citizens of the child being seen.

Since Tuesday there has been an intense search for the 12-year-old child who went missing after school last Friday.

The police were still in search of the child up to 7:30 pm.

Principal of Manchester High, Jasford Gabriel, and staff from the school also turned up at a section of Wesley Road as word of the sighting of the child spread.

Jaydon Smith

— Kasey Williams