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Authorities say a 5-year-old girl who went missing from Ellen Smith Elementary School around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday was found safe at the Boys and Girls Club around 5:30 p.m. and was returned to her home by police.
Conway Superintendent Greg Murry said the girl, identified as Ava Osborn, got on the wrong bus at the end of the school day and ended up at the club's Deer Street location. The girl was discovered by an employee of the center playing inside of the facility.
When asked, Murry said he couldn't say whether any similar incidents had previously occurred this school year.
"There may have been other children who went home with a friend or walked home," Murry said. "This is the only one that’s lasted this long (without finding them)."
The girl's mother contacted police around 4 p.m. when the girl didn't arrive at her residence.
The incident occurred on the tails of a similar event at another Conway elementary school last week.
Lori Hooten, the mother a 5-year-old special needs student at Theodore Jones Elementary School, reported that her son, who is a car rider, was found on Sept. 28 walking near the Unemployment Department on North Museum Road after he wandered from the school's campus around 3:15 p.m. at the end of the school day.
The father of the child was reportedly told by school officials his son had walked home, according to news reports and an email from the boy's mother.
The boy was found by an observant parent walking down the road and through traffic a few hundred yards away from the school's campus, asking directions to his home.
Officials reportedly did not contact authorities following the incident, and Hooten said she has since removed her son from the school.
The Department of Human Services is investigating the incident.
Murry said at the end of the school day there are lots of precautions in place to ensure that children make it home safely, but that these incidents "happen occasionally in all schools."
“We will always review the circumstances after a situation like this and make sure we are doing everything we can,” Murry said.
Comments (16)
Add commenthope she is safe! thank you
hope she is safe! thank you jesus!
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I am unfamiliar with the labeling on the Conway buses, but when I lived in a small town in north Arkansas, the school, rather than having bus numbers, had picture decals on the buses (Mickey Mouse, Snow White, etc.) to make it easy for the young children to find the correct bus. Thankful the little girl is ok.
Thank goodness she is safe.
Thank goodness she is safe. I picked up my friend's child from that school in the past and was never asked for an ID or stopped with questions regarding who I was. They just put him in the car with me and off we drove. I found it rather upsetting and I do not even have a child in that school. I think maybe it is time to take another look at the pick up procedure the school(s) use.
Heart goes out to the parents
Nothing more terrifying than what each set of these parents went through. Thank God these two situations ended up with a safe return.
how do you get on a bus to
how do you get on a bus to Boys and Girls Club? I thought they use 15 passenger vans and are separate from the buses. Boys and Girls need to do better job of checking kids in.
Not sure I can blame the school much honestly, the girl has been riding the bus for over a month now without incident, probably just got confused, thankfully it all ended well
Maybe this was missed in the story.
She is FIVE!
When I was 5
I could walk to the store and get a loaf of bread or a quart of milk alone so are you saying she is slow and after 5 weeks of school she doesn't know which bus to ride and which kids ride her bus.
Conway schools....
Once is to many to " misplace" a child but 2 that we know of within days?????
Not to mention other issues reported with this school system!
Come on people,these children aren't luggage lost in an airport!
REALLY
The school is to blame
How do you people think and why are they supposed to keep up with each and every kid.
Some kids get picked up mon - wed by mom or whoever she sends
then Thur and Fri dad has the kids and they go to a different place in the afternoon on those days.
That example is just one kid
I'm sorry the girl got on the wrong bus or whatever but she didn't seem worried she was having a good time at the B&G club.
As for the other boy that wandered off someone might have need to keep a closer watch on him due to his "special needs"
But let us use a little common sense here how long would it take to pick up kids at the elementary schools if every car passenger had to be verified everyday?????
Yeah.
Being responsible for 5-year olds is tough. Maybe we should have professional educators doing it.