New Yorkers don’t unite for many reasons, but the high-profile case of a missing child has provided many with the opportunity to come together.
For the past three weeks, New Yorkers have been continually reminded to be on the lookout for the missing boy Avonte Oquendo, 14. He was last seen leaving the Center Boulevard School in Long Island City, Queens. Many have seen the posters sprawled throughout the city, reading, “At tremendous risk! Has severe autism! Frantic search.”
Since his disappearance on October 4, police purportedly have not found any new leads. Because of Avonte’s mental difficulties, he has never spent much time alone, according to quotes from his mother, and she assumes that he is unlikely to have traveled far if he is on his own. But many, including family members, believe he might have been kidnapped.
Now lingering into its third week, his family continues to plea for people to continue the search, using the news, radio and Internet. Police are still uncertain about his whereabouts or what might have happened.
“Please bring him back, don’t keep him if you have him be good to him,” his grandmother, Doris McCoy, told ABC news. “Don’t abuse him. Don’t hurt him.”