McHenry Police Department issued a missing child alert around 7 p.m. Saturday seeking help locating Theo, who is almost two years old, and Todd Sabatini.
The pair was last seen in the area of Oak Drive and Elm Street, also known as Illinois Route 120, around noon Saturday.
They were initially believed to be on foot.
The two were last spotted at Oak Drive and Elm Street in McHenry and then later reported to be in Wisconsin.
According to the original reporting, Sabatini had left his home to take Theo “for a walk” during what police described as “normal activity” for the father and son.
However, concerned family members contacted police after the pair did not return home within a few hours. Officers then learned that the absence was “unusual behavior for Todd” and that the father did not have the “necessary provisions for an extended excursion with Theo.”
Theo was last seen wearing a blue shirt with dark colored shorts. Sabatini was last seen wearing a blue and black flannel shirt with a grey tank top, jeans and Converse shoes.
Police said that Sabatini is now clean shaven and does not have facial hair as seen in photos initially distributed by the department.
The search traced an unusual path.
Theo’s stroller was later discovered behind a local business.
Security footage then captured Sabatini attempting to make contact with someone inside a Zion Lutheran Church at a supermarket. The father also spoke with someone at Taco Bell.
Police said the father and son then bizarrely took a rideshare to the Greenfield Police Department in Wisconsin, roughly an hour’s drive from the Illinois city. Sabatini “spoke with an officer,” and left the police station “on foot” with Theo by 2 p.m. on Saturday.
It remains unclear what Sabatini discussed with the officer at the Greenfield station.
In an update issued Sunday morning, investigators determined the pair’s last known location was in the area of Greenfield, Wisconsin, near the Greenfield Police Department in the late afternoon on Saturday.
Police believe the two may have been in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon.
Police officials said Sabatini and Theo may still be in that area or may have returned to Illinois, including the McHenry area.
Both have been entered into law enforcement databases as missing persons.
An Amber Alert has not been issued.
In the viral moment spanning Saturday and Sunday, Sabatini and his son’s movements traced a puzzling path from a routine afternoon walk in McHenry to a police station in Wisconsin and possibly further to Milwaukee. Family members reported the pair missing when they failed to return home after several hours. The stroller was discovered abandoned at a local business, and witnesses reported seeing Sabatini at various locations attempting to make contact with people, including at a church inside a supermarket.
The father and toddler then traveled by rideshare across state lines to Greenfield Police Department, where Sabatini spoke briefly with an officer before departing on foot with Theo. By Sunday, authorities received information placing them possibly in Milwaukee, though police have not confirmed whether they remained in Wisconsin or returned to Illinois.
Police said they are continuing to follow leads in an effort to locate them.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts was asked to contact the McHenry Police Department at 815-363-2130.