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3-Year-Old Leaves Daycare Unnoticed And Walks Home

By Cleve Bryan

MERCER COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) -- It wasn't an hour after Yomara Ortiz dropped her son Dariell off at daycare Thursday morning when her teenage daughter called to say the 3-year-old was standing outside their house crying.

"I thought she was playing a joke on me. I couldn't believe that my son had made it back over here without anybody at the school noticing he was gone," Ortiz said.

Ortiz says the boy somehow got out of Kinderworld, crossed busy Hamilton Avenue and continued two blocks home.

Ortiz reported the incident to Hamilton Township Police as well as the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

Needless to say, she was furious.

"I went straight to the school to the director. I asked for an explanation as to how come nobody noticed that he was gone and she had nothing to say other than just give me an apology and just say it won't happen again."

We went to the front door to hear Kinderworld's side of the story, but no one would answer. On the phone, a woman said she didn't know anything about the situation and hung up.

Several people picking up kids told Eyewitness News that they never had a serious problem at Kinderworld, but they find the situation to be very disturbing.

"It's horrible any child can get out of there, I mean anyone can get out," Adele Cason, a grandmother of a child there, said.

"Like how could that have been done if there's so many teachers here and we really don't know how it happened," added Paula Bonfonti, a great aunt.

The scariest thought of all is picturing a 3-year-old Dariell crossing the street all by himself.

"I don't even want to think about it. All bad thoughts went through my head yesterday, everything that could have happened to him and it was just nerve-wracking," Ortiz said.

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