A Reseda family is sighing in relief after their 18-year-old son, who has autism, was found after missing for three days.
The family of Junior Saavedra is puzzled as to how the young man ended up more than 30 miles away from his home. They said Saavedra left his school in Reseda and was located in East Los Angeles three days later.
“He’s autistic, but he’s 18 years old, but he’s thinking like four years old kid, or probably less,” said Jose Gonzalez, the boyfriend of Saavedra’s mother.
Saavedra has limited verbal communication, so his disappearance immediately sparked concern from his loved ones.
“He speaks very small things like ‘Thank you, bye bye, hi,’ but he can’t keep a conversation, so that’s the thing,” Gonzalez said.
Thankfully, a post on social media alerted the family of Saavedra’s whereabouts. He was seen at El Mercadito in East Los Angeles on Monday and the family was able to reunite with him. It’s still unclear to them how he ended up there or where he had been for the past three days. Saavedra was found unharmed.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said:
“The student is safe and has been reunited with the family. Thanks to the support and work of school staff, the Los Angeles School Police Department, and the Los Angeles Police Department the student was found and our campus is safe and open for instruction.”