What his family didn't know was that after getting into a horrible accident on his bike and suffering a major brain injury, Nathan Torres was at the Moreno Valley Hospital.
When 13-year-old Nathan Torres went missing two days before Halloween, his family, overcome with concern, braced themselves for the worst.
"I went online. We thought the worst," Angelica Martinez, Nathan's sister, said. "When a kid goes missing, he could've been kidnapped online."
So she filed a missing juvenile report with police in Hemet, California.
What his family didn't know was that after getting into a horrible accident on his bike and suffering a major brain injury, Nathan was at the Moreno Valley Hospital.
The accident happened less than a quarter-mile from his home in Riverside County and just a half-hour after Nathan rode off that first night.
No one knew where he was because the Riverside health system had him listed in the ICU as "John Doe."
Angelica says her little brother was there, all alone, for five days. She says doctors and nurses thought he was much older than 13, maybe 20 or 21.
Nathan's family finally found him when a sheriff's deputy saw the missing juvenile report and notified them that Nathan was John Doe.
Angelica says an officer showed up at her mom's house holding a picture of her brother in the hospital. Afterward, Nathan's family contacted Hemet police to try and figure out why it took so long.
"Follow-up measures were taken by Hemet PD, and local area hospitals were contacted," they said in a statement. "Although several hospitals were contacted, the juvenile was not located due to being admitted as John Doe."
"In every case, we receive various forms of pertinent information that is pertinent to establishing a care plan for each patient based on their medical need," the Riverside University Health Systems added.
"We evaluate all cases and always identify opportunities to improve. Because this is around a particular patient, and to preserve confidentiality as required by law, we will not be commenting on this case."
Now, Nathan is recovering from surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
