This is SCARY!!

[TexasStooge]

Mom leaves son, 5, at closed Dallas school

Good samaritan kept boy safe, returned him home

By HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Lashonda Lindsey had no idea leaving her 5-year-old son at school Thursday would lead to the scariest day of her life.

Unaware for several hours that she had left her son at a building that had been closed because of the icy weather, she eventually drew Dallas police, family and friends into a frantic search for the missing boy.

He finally was returned home in the afternoon by a schoolmate's mother who had found him.

Ms. Lindsey had watched TV reports the night before and didn't see DISD schools listed. She was running late Thursday morning and didn't check the cancellations again.

So she bundled up her son, Latarius, for the freezing cold and dropped him off at Elisha M. Pease Elementary School on Cummings Street in East Oak Cliff, where other parents were also dropping off students.

"I sat and waited for him to walk up the stairs and then pulled off," Ms. Lindsey said.

But the school was closed. Scared and confused, Latarius started walking toward Loop 12, trying to find his way home.

At the same time, an 8-year-old girl was pulling on the school's doors and found them locked. Her mother noticed Latarius wandering about and asked what he was doing.

"She tells the child: 'Come with me. I'll take care of you until we get you back to your mother,' " Dallas police Lt. Rick Watson said.

After a bit of persuasion, Latarius got into the woman's car. The good Samaritan tried to take him to his apartment, but no one was there.

So Latarius spent several hours with the woman and her daughter, eating hot dogs and playing hide-and-seek in their home.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lindsey, who had gone to a doctor's appointment, returned home about noon and noticed children playing in her neighborhood.

"My mind clicked," she said. "I went back to the school, but there were no cars there. ... I panicked."

She rounded up Latarius' father, her cousins and several friends to knock on countless doors looking for Latarius for two hours.

Several police officers scoured the neighborhood, and a police helicopter was launched.

"I felt like I was a bad parent. I felt like I was wrong because I couldn't explain to my baby, 'I'm sorry, I didn't know school was closed,' " Ms. Lindsey said.

"I thought when the police came back, they'd tell me my baby's body was found somewhere."

But the next knock on the door was from Ms. Lindsey's "angel," a woman she knows only as Sharika. Next to her was Latarius, confused but safe.

"My mama was crying because she was trying to find me," Latarius said.

Ms. Lindsey said she thanked the woman profusely for keeping her son safe.

"Thank God for her. When stuff like that happens, you think bad. These kids don't come back safe all the time."

Ms. Lindsey said she'll be more vigilant with her child on his way to school.

"Every time you drop your kids off, always walk them in, no matter what. Make sure they get into the school," she said. "People in the school can't be responsible for what happens to them if they never make it in."

[EFrancis]

Well, this just looks like a big mix up and it's quite evident she feels bad about the situation. No harm, no foul.