An autistic boy’s first day of school ended when he was put on the wrong school bus in suburban Palatine, leading to a frightening afternoon for a mother who couldn’t find him.
Kelly Murray-Myrum says her 6-year-old son Gianni was put on the wrong bus after getting home from school.
“No parent should have to go through what I went through for those 30 minutes, not knowing where my 6-year-old was,” she said.
Kelly waited for Gianni to get off the bus, but when he didn’t, she quickly had to find answers.
“A few little girls got off the bus and I asked them where Gianni was, there was no location,” she said. “I asked the bus driver, he said, ‘Well, here’s a list, I don’t have any names, so if you want to get on the bus, go ahead.’”
Kelly got on the bus, but found her son was not on board.
“All I could think about was that you hear bad stories: Did he get kidnapped, did he get off at the wrong stop and don’t know where he is? Would I ever see my child again?” she said.
Luckily for Kelly and Gianni, his backpack is specifically designed for a situation like the one he found himself in, and the bus driver he got on was able to take him home.
Today, two weeks after the incident, Kelly says she still hasn’t figured out what happened.
“The school blames the bus company, the bus company blames the school,” she said. “If it was your child, how would you react?”
NBC Chicago had not received comment from Lincoln Elementary School or District 15 as of the 10 p.m. newscast.
