NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The lawyer for a family whose 14-year-old autistic son went missing after leaving his New York City school said the school made a "series of mistakes."
Avonte Oquendo disappeared Oct. 4 after he walked out of the Riverview School in Queens in the middle of the day.
Senior police commander Chief Philip Banks III said Tuesday a search has turned up no trace of the missing boy.
David H. Perecman, a lawyer for the family, and advocates for children with disabilities are questioning school officials about how the boy was able to leave, The New York Times reported.
"What happened here was clearly a series of mistakes," said Perecman, who filed a claim against the city on behalf of Avonte's family. "His mother was under the understanding that Avonte would be under constant supervision."
Perecman questioned how Avonte was able to get past a school safety officer who was supposedly guarding the side door through which the teen exited and why the school waited 45 minutes to an hour after the disappearance to notify police and the family.
"No student should ever get away," said Maggie Moroff, the special-education policy coordinator at Advocates for Children of New York, a non-profit legal group.
