Jeremiah Griffin was in his first week of day care in Wilmington when the 3-year-old was left in nearby Brandywine Park for nearly an hour after visiting with his class.It wasn't until a crossing guard found him wandering alone and brought him into Warner Elementary School, at 801 N. 18th St., that police were called, Master Sgt. Tuesday, the school's principal shared more details about what the Warner officials had done to help find the toddler's day care before he was returned there blocks away Jeremiah's parents were not informed by the day care for several hours.
The boy's father, Jomar Brown, picked his son up at Sharon Temple Child Care Center, at 2001 N. Washington St., and that's when workers told him his son had gone missing for 10 minutes. According to Wilmington police, they received a call at 12:42 p.m. Aug. 28 from officials at Warner Elementary that they had a lost boy at the school.The initial report was that about 12:20 p.m. a crossing guard brought the boy into the school.After investigating, officers returned the toddler to Sharon Temple, where day care workers advised them that the other children returned from Brandywine Park, about a half mile away at 11:45 a.m.
Griffin, who drives a school bus for Warner, said she's been able to piece together some of the day's events. "There was a lady in the park with her kids and when she was getting ready to leave, she gave my son to the crossing guard," she said."The kids actually ate their lunch and were laid down for a nap before they noticed that he was missing," Griffin said.
Griffin, who drives a school bus for Warner, said she's been able to piece together some of the day's events. "There was a lady in the park with her kids and when she was getting ready to leave, she gave my son to the crossing guard," she said."The kids actually ate their lunch and were laid down for a nap before they noticed that he was missing," Griffin said.
Warner Elementary Principal Chrishaun Fitzgerald said the boy had been playing with Warner school children until they returned from recess.The crossing guard stayed with him a few minutes to see if anyone would return for the toddler before bringing the boy inside the school and inquiring if he was a pre-schooler. She assigned a school coordinator to start making calls to the surrounding day cares who typically use the park to see if any of them might had left the boy behind. Upon calling the centers, no one reported having any missing children, Fitzgerald said. By the time police arrived, a day care worker from Sharon Temple had called back, saying they were missing a little boy. Fitzgerald said they were told that officers were investigating.
"You had this toddler who couldn't talk," He could say his name, but he could not articulate his teacher's name and when we asked him his mommy's name, he said, 'Mommy.' He seemed hungry so we offered him crackers."The state Division of Family Services has conducted an investigation into the lack of supervision allegation and has given the day care a "warning of probation" for six months, spokeswoman Andrea Wojcik said. She said day care officials notified the state as required on Aug. 29 about the situation and the division has placed the day care on increased monitoring.Wojcik said the day care informed the state that the boy was left unsupervised by their staff for about 45 minutes, but that he was never actually "alone," since other area day care groups had visited the same park that day.Sharon Temple Day Care Center, which was licensed in 2000, has had two unsubstantiated complaints lodged against it in April 2010 and in July 2014, Wojcik said.According to state regulations, a child care center must notify a child's parents or guardians in cases of accidents or injuries. There is no specific regulation, however, covering missing children.
"You had this toddler who couldn't talk," He could say his name, but he could not articulate his teacher's name and when we asked him his mommy's name, he said, 'Mommy.' He seemed hungry so we offered him crackers."The state Division of Family Services has conducted an investigation into the lack of supervision allegation and has given the day care a "warning of probation" for six months, spokeswoman Andrea Wojcik said. She said day care officials notified the state as required on Aug. 29 about the situation and the division has placed the day care on increased monitoring.Wojcik said the day care informed the state that the boy was left unsupervised by their staff for about 45 minutes, but that he was never actually "alone," since other area day care groups had visited the same park that day.Sharon Temple Day Care Center, which was licensed in 2000, has had two unsubstantiated complaints lodged against it in April 2010 and in July 2014, Wojcik said.According to state regulations, a child care center must notify a child's parents or guardians in cases of accidents or injuries. There is no specific regulation, however, covering missing children.
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