Friday, January 17, 2014

Sad News - Avonte Oquendo

The autistic teenager from Queens, New York who was caught on camera leaving his school is believed to be dead. (see: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2013/10/avonte-oquendo-missing.html)

Avonte Oquendo left his school without the staff realizing and ran off onto the streets of Queens, New York never to be seen or heard from again.  Thousands of volunteers mobilized a large search effort including the NYPD, but no success.  Rewards were offered leading to information on the whereabouts of young Avonte in order to find him, but tips that were received lead nowhere.  The homes of sex offenders in the area were even searched to see if convicted child molesters/rapists had taken the child to sexually abuse.

A few hours ago, a high school student out on the shore of College Point taking photos discovered human remains.  Legs and an arm were on the scene.  The student immediately called the police who found clothes similar to that which Avonte was wearing the day he vanished as well as a jawbone, ribs and pelvic bone.  According to the Oquendo family's lawyer, the clothes are extremely identical, including sneakers found - all were the same size Avonte wore.

Nevertheless, the mother of Avonte is not giving up hope stating that "it's not Avonte until it's Avonte."  DNA tests are being done on the remains with help from Avonte's mother who provided samples of her own DNA as well as Avonte's birth certificate with inked footprint and his toothbrush to extract his DNA from.

This is a sad day indeed.  Any child that goes missing is horrific, but when it comes to a non-verbal autistic child; it hurts a little more for the mere fact that this child could not talk.  He could not ask for help, call his mother or do anything a non-autistic child is capable of doing at age 14.

We will have to wait perhaps a few days or a month to learn whether or not the remains found are
that of young Avonte.  The NYPD does not suspect foul play, but who knows.  The remains were found nine miles from Avonte's school.  Some are speculating that he went to the waters of Queens and drowned which can possibly explain the separated bodily remains due to an expedited decay of the body where the body bloats quickly as it is filled with water, becomes mushy and breaks apart due to the bacteria.

We can only pray and hope Avonte is still alive, but most likely these are his remains if in fact the clothes found match what he was wearing the day he left his school.  If not, my prayers go out to whoever these remains belong to and his/her family.

I will update this post as soon as I learn more.*



Source:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/cops-investigating-arm-torso-legs-found-queens-shoreline-missing-teen-avonte-oquendo-police-source-article-1.1582937

http://pix11.com/2014/01/17/could-it-be-avonte-inside-the-extensive-investigation-of-found-human-remains-2/

http://www.ny1.com/content/news/202054/human-remains-discovered-in-queens-could-be-of-missing-teen

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9396907

http://pix11.com/2014/01/17/body-parts-found-may-be-linked-to-avonte-oquendo-police-source/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/avonte-oquendo_n_4616470.html

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/17/avonte-oquendos-family-waiting-to-learn-identity-of-remains-found-in-queens/

http://www.ny1.com/content/news/202054/human-remains-discovered-in-queens-could-be-of-missing-teen


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