WICHITA, Kansas, September 8, 2008 – Ten-year-old  Greg Ransom is back home with his family after authorities searched for hours Sunday only to find him playing video games at a Wal-Mart.

"He is just, I was scared to death, I just knew that I kept watching the news I knew somebody was going to find him, but I didn't know they were going to find him OK,” said Tamara Ransom, Greg’s mother.

Now, Greg sits safe by his mom’s side, but for 15 hours on Sunday, Tamara Thomas had no idea where he son was.

"I didn't know what to think especially as the hours and the later it got,” she said.

It started with an argument between the two around 11:30 Sunday morning.

"He did something I was not happy with and he got in trouble so I sent him outside for a minute so I could cool off,” Tamara said.

She says a short time later when her daughter went to check on him, he was gone. Police were called and for 10 hours they searched for him on horseback, foot, from the air and in a nearby pond. They even used K-9 tracking dogs.

"The worst possible thing a parent could ever think, that he'd been picked up by some stranger and taken God knows where,” Tamara said.

Nearly 15 hours after he was last seen, at 2:30 Monday morning, a clerk at Wal-Mart some eight miles from the Thomas’ apartment, called police to say the boy was playing video games in the store. Greg was unaware of the search parties looking for him.

Authorities admit the search costs thousands in taxpayer dollars with more than 75 officers searching. Some even stayed overtime to look for Greg. But they say it had to be done and they’re glad the case had a happy ending.

"It is taxing on our resources, we put a lot of effort and manpower into trying to find him, there's no regrets about doing that, it's just time consuming,” said Capt. John Speer with the Wichita Police Department.

"I appreciate everything everybody has done to find him and get him home to me,” said Tamara.