LOS ANGELES — A little boy who has difficulties communicating was reunited Thursday with family after being abandoned at a bustling train station in downtown Los Angeles.
Police said the boy, between 5 and 7, may be deaf or autistic because they hadn’t been able to communicate with him.
Workers at a cafe in Union Station first saw the boy and a woman eating together on Wednesday evening. They began to worry later when he ran into their kitchen alone and they realized the woman was nowhere in sight, said Adrienne Garrett, supervisor at Cafe Crepe.
Garrett said she and other workers looked for the woman to no avail but she wandered back about 30 minutes later, prompting one worker to tell her that she should be taking care of her child.
“We asked her to come back but she literally walked out the front door,” Garrett said. “She did not even acknowledge anything at all. She was silent and kept walking and that’s when we decided to get security.”
Police bought the boy an ice cream and when he still appeared hungry, Garrett said she gave him some chicken fingers, French fries and apple juice.
Police were able to identify the boy after community members and news media spread word of his discovery.
The department said the child has been reunited with family and that the investigation is ongoing.
It’s still unclear who the woman at the train station with the boy is or which relatives are now with him.
Police say their investigation is ongoing.
Garrett said she was heartbroken for the boy when he was left alone.
“I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind would do that,” she said. “It’s a young boy, it’s the Fourth of July, and it’s Union Station — anything can happen. It’s really upsetting she felt comfortable leaving him here.”
