Deputies who went looking for the father of a 6-year-old boy on South Whidbey ended up discovering a marijuana-growing operation and arresting the man.

Loyd Hanna, 40, of Langley, recently pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court to a charge of manufacturing marijuana.

Island County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Beech wrote that a school bus driver went to drop off a boy on East Harbor Road, but nobody was there waiting for him. The bus driver alerted deputies, who went to the boy’s house.

When no one answered the door, the deputies decided to enter the unlocked home to check on the welfare of the residents. They didn’t find anyone home, Beech wrote, but they did discover marijuana growing in a bedroom.

Hanna eventually came home, Beech wrote, and told investigators that he was growing the marijuana for his own use and never sold any.