Abject panic gave way to relief yesterday afternoon when it turned out that the disappearance of a first grader at Donald F. Bradach Elementary School was not a kidnapping but rather a case of a child mistaking a man there to pick up his grandson as his grandfather and the grandfather similarly misidentifying the 6-year-old boy as his grandson.
As students poured out from the 437-student school following the dismissal bell at 2:25 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, some headed off campus on their own or in small groups to walk homeward, while others hopped on busses. The remainder met with parents or caretakers to return home on foot.
Before 2:30 p.m., a mother who had come to the school, located at 15550 Bellflower Street, grew alarmed that her son was not at their established rendezvous point. She redoubled her efforts to find him. Unsuccessful, she informed school officials her child was gone. A 9-1-1 call was made, and was immediately patched through to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which serves as the contract law enforcement agency/police department in the City of Adelanto. The dispatch log shows the sheriff’s department was called at 2:31 p.m.
The incoming call reported that a 6-year-old student had left the campus with an “unknown male,” according to the dispatch log.
Unbeknownst to those at the school and the sheriff’s department at that time was that a man, described in a subsequent report as elderly and the grandfather of another boy who attended the school, had come to the Bradach campus at the request of his family to retrieve his grandson that day.
Having arrived prior to the mother of the 6-year-old, the grandfather of the other boy was spotted by the child, who, mistakenly, recognized him as his grandfather. When the first grader greeted him with familiarity, the man, reciprocating the child’s mistake, assumed him to be his grandson. They departed the school grounds together.
Upon reaching home, the man set about preparing a mid-afternoon snack, at which point the child he had taken began asking questions which conveyed to the elder that the boy he had taken was not his grandson.
The older man, recognizing his error, quickly returned to Donald F. Bradach Elementary School, the boy in tow. There he encountered several sheriff’s deputies. After a tense few minutes, he was able to make an explanation of the series of events and miscues that had occurred.
The boy was reunited with his relieved mother, and the grandfather was allowed to leave with his grandson.