Temar Boggs mother Tamika said,”You just hope you raise your child the right way … He’s learning what I tell him, to help others.”
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Shortly after hearing that 5-year-old Jocelyn Rojas was missing, 15-year-old Temar Boggs and his friend Chris Garcia started searching for the young girl on their bikes. It was while they were riding through their neighborhood that Boggs, a McCaskey freshman who lives in Gable Park Woods, Pennsylvania, noticed a suspicious car driving in and out of the side streets in the neighborhood.
Boggs told reporters that that specific car caught his attention because it had turned around near the top of a hill where several police officers had congregated. The car then began trying to navigate the maze of the neighborhood, which is full of cul-de-sacs and dead ends.
Boggs sped up on his bicycle and was able to get close enough to the vehicle to see a little girl inside, and then make eye contact with the driver. Boggs describes him as an older white male between the ages of 50 and 70 years. Authorities believe it was at this point that the driver got “spooked” and let Rojas out of the car before driving off. Boggs said, “She runs to my arms and said, ‘I need to see my mommy.'” The teen scooped her up and carried her back to where the police and search parties were gathered near Garcia’s apartments.
After relaying what happened to the authorities, Boggs was introduced to the Rojas family. He said that they “were just saying that I was a hero, that I was a guardian angel and that it was amazing that I was there and was able to find the girl.” But the teen doesn’t see it that way. He said, “I’m just a normal person who did a thing that anybody else would do.”
Boggs thinks of himself as a “typical kid,” who plays football, basketball and track. He does realize that what happened Thursday afternoon was something special though, saying “It was like fate, it was like meant for me and Chris to be there. If we wouldn’t have left (to look for the girl) who knows what would have happened to the little girl.” He also admits to waking up in the middle of the night Thursday with the realization that he and Garcia may have saved the 5-year-old’s life.
Photo: YouTube
This young man sets a great example for the way society should be. I hope that someone with the financial means steps up to pay for his college education. This is a person of integrity that is worthy of helping to succeed!
What a great story and absolutely wonderful to soak in – and not without its funny part: after he found the young girl, he placed her on his shoulders while riding his bike back :), then thought, hey — this might be a tad dangerous !!
Only a teenager could entertain such a thought….
That little girl is going to see you as her hero for the REST of your life. So glad there’s young men like you in this world to give the rest of us hope! <3 Good job Temar!!! (And Temar's mom!!)
You are my hero! Thank you. I would have really tried to do the same.
Bless your heart, Temar! You and Chris were truly this little girl’s guardian angels. I am sending you both loads of love and gratitude…