Autistic 5-year-old taken on 4-hour bus ride after driver gets lost on Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND (WABC) -- A school bus went missing for hours on Staten Island.

A terrified mother was left wondering where her autistic son was and why school officials couldn't track down the bus her son was riding on.

Aiden Rotbart is just 5 years old, autistic, and he can rock some video games.

But on Friday, he didn't have his iPad with him during a four-hour odyssey aboard a school bus that somehow got lost on Staten Island.

"This was his first day ever on the bus...ever," said Erika Rotbart, Aiden's mother.

Aiden's school, PS 60 is just three miles from his home, but on Friday, the driver got lost with Aiden and some other children on board.

Two hours later, Erika called the Department of Education and they said he'd be home in 20 minutes.

"So we waited 20, and then it was 30 minutes, so we started calling again," Rotbart said.

Ms. Rotbart was terrified.

"I didn't think I was going to see my son again," Rotbart said.

And no one knew where the bus was.

"I want to know a time, I want to know where my child is, I don't want to hear 20 minutes 20 minutes, I want to know where he is, and...just nothing," Rotbart said.

The bus is operated by the Reliant Bus Company and finally, five hours after it left the school, it arrived at Aiden's house.

"I cried hysterically, I was emotional to begin with, I was happy he was there, I was crying hysterically, he was crying hysterically," Rotbart said.

Nobody apologized and she still hasn't gotten an explanation as to how this happened, how a bus full of school children could be lost and never check in with anyone.

Aiden refuses to get back on the bus.