Missing Child Unit , expressing concern about Adam , the sheriff said . The Herrmans told Eisenbise that Adam ran away frequently , the attorney said , and they believed he was either with his biological parents or homeless . Although the Herrmans did not report him missing , `` they were very worried about him , '' Eisenbise said . In an interview published Tuesday in The Wichita Eagle , Valerie Herrman said Adam ran away in May 1999 after she spanked him with a belt . She said she was upset but does n't remember why , The Eagle reported . The couple never reported Adam missing , Valerie Herrman told the paper , because they feared authorities would take Adam and his siblings away because of the spanking . The couple adopted his two younger siblings as well , according to The Eagle . `` We love him , and we made a terrible mistake '' by not reporting him missing , Doug Herrman told The Eagle . The couple said they searched the mobile home park and other areas for two days after Adam left . `` Then we came to the conclusion that the police
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Authorities investigating the case of a boy who disappeared in Kansas almost a decade ago plan to search an undisclosed residence Wednesday , the Butler County sheriff said . An age-progression photo shows what Adam Herrman would like today , as a 21-year-old man . Sheriff Craig Murphy would not disclose details about the residence or why authorities want to search it . He said his department will also search on an area of the Whitewater River , in southern Kansas , on Saturday near where Adam Herrman was last seen . Adam was 11 when he went missing in 1999 . He was living in a mobile home park in Towanda , a town about 25 miles northeast of Wichita , with his adoptive parents , Doug and Valerie Herrman , authorities said . Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise , who is representing Adam 's adoptive parents , said the couple believed Adam had run away and did n't report him missing . They `` really rue the fact that they did n't '' report him missing , he said Monday . A few weeks ago , an undisclosed person contacted the Wichita-Sedgwick County Exploited and