4-year-old wanders out of preschool and walks a mile home, mom says. She wants answers
An Indiana woman says she wants answers after her 4-year-old son left his preschool and walked home all by himself.
Taylor Meharg took to social media regarding the Jan. 10 incident at the Roanoke Seminary United Methodist Church.
“At 10:20 am, Parker came running into the house. He had walked out of the school because he didn’t feel good and was locked out. His teachers were not watching,” Meharg said in a Facebook post.
When the boy walked out of the school, the doors locked behind him. He knocked but no one answered, that’s when he decided to walk home, according to Meharg.
She said the temperature that day was 28 degrees and the boy had no coat on, just a long sleeve shirt.
“What if my son wouldn’t have came home? What if he was hit by a car? What if he was picked up by a child predator? What if he wandered off and fell into the creek behind the church? There are so many what ifs, and it is truly every parent’s worst nightmare,” she said.
The post goes on to say that the school did not contact Meharg once they realized the 4-year-old was missing.
“They didn’t call the police. They went to the Roanoke town marshal after an unknown amount of time of Parker being missing,” she said. “They were looking for my son and had the pastor of the church driving around looking for him. We truly have no idea how long Parker was unaccounted for,” she said.
McClatchy News reached out to the Huntington YMCA, which runs the school, but did not immediately hear back.
In a statement to WPTA, the school said it regrets that the incident occurred.
“We have worked closely with Indiana’s Department of Child Services regarding this unfortunate event. Representatives from the agency performed a site visit and conducted a thorough investigation in which we actively participated. Moving forward, we are taking every step feasible to ensure that we are protecting the children in our programs and serving our community in the best way possible.”
McClatchy News reached out to Meharg for more information but did not immediately hear back.
The Department of Child Services released a report on the incident, in which it says “considering time frames that were reported Parker would have been outside for approximately 10-13 minutes,” according to WPTA.
However, Google Maps shows it is a nearly 20 minute walk from the school to the boy’s home, the news outlet reported.
”Who is being held accountable for what happened to my child?” Meharg asked.
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