Police have been searching New York City for three weeks after a 14-year-old boy with autism disappeared from school. On Friday, Police said they don’t have much hope of finding Avonte Oquendo alive.
Police have tried nearly every form of investigation they can, including sniffer dogs, missing-persons posters, video cameras and thorough searches of the streets, subways and sewers. “Obviously we have devoted a tremendous amount of resources to the search,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told WABC. “Unfortunately, we are not hopeful that we’re going to find this young man alive, but we are continuing our search.”
The closest authorities have come to finding Avonte was when bloodhounds tracked his scent to a marsh near his school in Long Island City. The dogs lost the scent by the marsh and later picked it up by a subway station. Avonte’s family says that he is very interested in trains, so every one of New York City’s 468 subway stations were searched.
Avonte’s mother still very much believes he is alive, and is determined to spreading the word about his disappearance. “My message to my son is that I love him, and we’re going to find him,” she said. “You’ll come home to your family. And for anyone who has him, please be kind and to let him go.”
