Unfortunate, But Better Than Nothing: Apparently The Only Available Photo Of This Missing Boy Was One Where He’s On The Toilet

Well, this is certainly an unfortunate situation on top of an already very serious crisis: Apparently, the only available photo of this missing boy was one where he’s on the toilet. 

Dang. Well, guess that’s better than nothing. 

While there’s no doubt that seven-year-old Nathan Gumphry would be mortified to know that a photo of him on his grandma’s toilet with his pants around his ankles has been plastered all over his neighborhood and shared over 120,000 times on Facebook, it’s also true that if this was the only photo of him his family had access to (which we have to assume it was, right?), he’d understand. According to the flier, Nathan was last seen four days ago and the police have no leads on where he might be, so this boy is clearly in grave danger. It’s definitely best to get his photo out to as many people as possible so he can be found before it’s too late, even if the photo in question shows him doing a number two. 

It makes sense that the FBI chose to circulate this unflattering photo rather than one of those computer-generated sketches or an old photo of Nathan where he looks completely different (again, presuming this was literally the only picture his family had of him). The toilet photo appears recent and shows his face pretty clearly, and while it’s unknown why the authorities didn’t crop out the lower half of the photo, which shows the toilet, Nathan’s bare legs, and his underwear, the important thing here is that Nathan gets home safely to his family as soon as possible. This is not a beauty contest—it’s a missing persons investigation.

There’s no doubt that when he’s back in his parents’ arms, Nathan will forget all about how a photo of him on the toilet was prominently displayed on the FBI’s website for nearly a week. 

Take a long, hard look at this photo of Nathan and memorize his face while trying to ignore the fact he’s in the midst of taking a dump. If you see him, contact the authorities immediately. May this sad story be a reminder to keep your children close and to be sure to take plenty of pictures of them where they aren’t on the toilet.