LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A 5-year-old boy reported missing Monday when a relative tried to pick him up at a Long Beach school turned up several hours later unharmed, in an apparent case of mistaken identity, police said.
A relative went to get the boy about noon, but was told someone else had already picked up the child, police said.
Long Beach police searched the campus of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, 1175 E. 11th St., and canvassed the neighborhood in search of the child, said Sgt. David Cannan of the Long Beach Police Department.
More than five hours later, the child was found.
It turned out that a babysitter, on her first day on the job, went to the school to get the child, called out his name, and Angel Guerrero, the boy who was later reported missing, smiled and stepped forward, Cannan said.
The babysitter assumed she had the right child and took him to her employers' home, where she and the child spent the afternoon. When the parents arrive home hours later, they told the babysitter that she had the wrong child, Cannan said. At the same time, the parents saw a TV report about the child who was reported missing and realized what had happened.
The child who was supposed to be in the babysitter's care had waited at the school until school authorities called an uncle to pick him up.
The school's principal, Cecilia Camerino, said the policy of how children are picked up will be changed to ensure that such a mix-up does not happen again. She said children will now have to wear cards around their neck with the name of the person designated to pick them up, and that person will have to show identification.
Angel's grandmother said the boy's quiet nature may have contributed to the problem.
When asked Angel why he got in the car with the babysitter, he told said, "Because she pick me up."
School authorities advised all parents to check on the pickup policy at their children's school.
No comments:
Post a Comment