A 3-year-old Spanish-speaking boy was found by Stockbridge police wandering alone in a parking lot Friday morning when he was supposed to be at day care, authorities confirmed.
Police Chief Frank Trammer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that one of his officers happened to be in the area around 11:30 a.m., driving down Rock Quarry Road near the 1300 block, when he saw the toddler walking around seemingly unattended. The officer pulled over, watched and realized no one else was with the child.
That is when the officer stepped in and began trying to locate the parent or guardian with no luck, Trammer said.
“He was going around business to business, and he was in the area for about 20 minutes before he encountered a lady who was later determined to work for the actual day care facility, who then reported to him that she was looking for a missing child,” he said.
Body camera footage obtained by the AJC shows the officer first talking to a Spanish-speaking woman holding the toddler, who did not appear to speak English.
“Where is home, my love? Do you remember?” she asked the boy in Spanish. He pointed to the road, but was “just saying kinda nonsense,” she told the officer.
A few minutes later, another woman approached and tried to retrieve the boy, but he did not want to go with her.
“Who is she?” the first woman asked the boy in Spanish.
The second woman explained the boy had wandered off from the day care around the corner and that he did not speak English.
The officer questioned her about where the boy’s family was and how he got out of the day care.
“I’m the kitchen lady,” she told the officer, apparently implying she did not know. The bodycam footage ends shortly after.
“It’s really fortunate — it was almost a godsend that the officer happened to be in the right place at the right time and was able to locate the child before, you know, something tragic happened,” the chief added.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The day care, ABC Learning Academy, could not be reached for comment. It is located less than a quarter-mile from the high-traffic area where the boy was found, on the other side of the block on North Park Trail.
Officers are still working to determine how long the boy was missing and how he got out of the facility.
“We know that he was gone at least 20 minutes because that was a period of time the child was in the custody of the officer before the day care facility employee was located,” Trammer said, adding that the day care has a large fence around the back, and police did a perimeter search and found no gaps.
“I mean, it’s at least a five, five-and-a-half-foot fence,” he said. “Not saying a child couldn’t climb over it, but it would be quite a feat for a child of that age to scale that fence.”
County 911 records do not show that a call was made to report the child missing, he said, though some day care employees said they did.
The day care has no history of calls to police, Trammer said, but investigators are working with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.
At this point, no one is facing criminal charges, he said.
“It’s probably going to be a regulatory issue, assuming there was no ill intent” or negligence, Trammer said.
The day care reported the incident to the state department Saturday and it is investigating, spokesman Reg Griffin said.
“Parents impacted by this situation can connect with child care resources at www.qualityrated.org or by calling the toll-free number 1-877-ALL GA KIDS,” Griffin said. “Parents will be assisted in locating quality child care options. DECAL provides this free service to parents.”
The day care center’s last substantiated complaint was filed in May 2019 after a 6-year-old sustained an injury to the mouth two months earlier, according to state records. The child required medical attention, but the center did not report the incident to the state department. The complaint was resolved with the center agreeing to develop a policy so that all employees know how and when to report such incidents.
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