Bronx Mother Says Bus Took Autistic Son To The Wrong School

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- A Bronx mother said her son was missing for eight hours after he was dropped off at the wrong school.

As CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, it was a mother's worst nightmare.

Angie Capestany lives in Parkchester with her autistic son. She put him on the school bus Monday morning, but when she called the school later that day to check on him administrators told her the 7-year-old never made it to class and no one knew where he was.

"Where's my baby? He can't talk. He can't help himself. He's my only one. I sent him to school. What do you mean he didn't make it?" she said.

Capestany's son Angel is severely autistic and doesn't speak, so on his first day of summer school he couldn't tell the driver he was being taken to the wrong school.

"He's not non-verbal where he has some words. He has no language," she said.

A lawyer for consolidated bus company said this was an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

The driver and matron checked Angel in under the name of another special needs boy who lives in the building and didn't get on the bus. They took Angel to PS 20 in Norwood instead of PS 169 in Pelham Bay.

Since he was checked in under the wrong name no one could find him.

"Consolidated was adamant that only one bus comes to this address which was 021, and that Angel did not get on that bus," his mother said.

Angel had disappeared and no one knew where he was.

Capestany thought the worst, remembering the case of Avonte Oquendo, the autistic boy who walked out of his Long Island City school and drowned in the East River.

"I did think about Avonte. I did not want my son to end up like that," she said, "He sat in the lunch room until 11:30. They didn't realize the child he was supposedly sitting for was 13-years-old."

Ultimately, the same bus that picked Angel up, also dropped him off in front of his apartment building later that afternoon.

"The response from everyone was just horrible and it should never happen again. Protocol fell so many times, from the department of education to the bus company, to pupil transportation," Capestany said.

The bus company said they are cooperating with a Department of Education investigation.

The Department of Education said they are taking the allegations seriously.

The bus company claims Capestany misunderstood when the driver asked her child's name, which she denied.

"You hear for Angel Cosme? He says 'yes,'" she recalled.

Capestany said she is also frustrated with the 43rd Precinct near her home. She said she called the police several times, but was told they were busy and understaffed.

The NYPD said the commanding officer of the 43rd Precinct is investigating.