7-year-old boy with autism who went missing in Queens reunited with mother in Manhattan
JACKSON HEIGHTS, Queens (WABC) -- Only a mother knows the panic of losing sight of their child -- and what it feels like to hold them again.
Ruwaid, 7, who has autism, was missing for almost three hours.
"I was thinking there would be a call for me that my son -- he met an accident or something like all the horrible stuff -- was coming in my mind," said his mother, Farjana Akond.
The call Akond received was the best possible.
Only Eyewitness News' cameras were rolling when she was reunited with her son in the back of an ambulance on the Upper East Side -- all thanks to a total stranger.
"I realized he was kind of walking by himself and it was a little weird. So I followed him for a block and then it really hit me. His parents weren't there," said good Samaritan Christina Casey.
Casey spotted the little boy near East 61st Street and Lexington Avenue all by himself.
"I can't believe no one else noticed and stopped and realized he was by himself since he came all the way from Queens, I'm hearing. That's a little shocking," Casey adds.
Ruwaid's adventure started in Jackson Heights when he dashed out of Dera Restaurant, miles from where he would be found. His mother was there getting breakfast with friends -- she went to the bathroom, and when she returned, he was gone.
The NYPD deployed helicopters and posted missing photos. Every officer in Queens was looking for the 7-year-old in a city of more than 8 million people.
There was only one observant enough to call police, who grabbed him just after 2 p.m.
"She's our savior. She's an angel to me now," said Akond.
Akond says her son loves maps and has a photographic memory -- police believe he made it from Queens to Manhattan on the subway.
Officers took good care of the 7-year-old after his trip.
"We offered him pizza, got him water, to make him feel like we were there for him and he's not in harm's way," said NYPD officer Anthony Lewis.
The family is visiting from Texas. Now, Ruwaid, who loves sightseeing, can do so safely with his mom.
"I have never imagined that this could happen with us, but thanks to everyone who helped us this far to get my son to me," added Akond.
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