Family of missing autistic teenager Avonte fear foul play after washed up body was wearing unfamiliar underwear
(Jan. 20, 2014) The family of missing autistic teenager Avonte Oquendo said they fear foul play if the body found washed up in New York last week is his -- because it was wearing unfamiliar underwear.
A torso, left arm, legs and a sneaker were found on a northern Queens beach last Thursday, and authorities said the clothes were similar to those worn by the 14-year-old when he went missing in October.
The remains were taken to the Queens County Morgue to be positively identified, and authorities are now awaiting the results of a DNA test. They could have an answer by Wednesday.
But the family's lawyer, David Perecman, told the New York Post that he is concerned about the large Fruit of the Loom underwear found on the remains because Avonte didn't wear 'large' and wore only the Hanes brand.
"If it is him, what that indicates to me is that something happened," Perecman said. "Someone got a hold of him, moved him. I can't say they harmed him, but why would the underwear have gotten changed?"
A police source confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the clothing matched what Avonte was wearing when he disappeared on October 4 from the Riverview School in Long Island City.
Perecman also confirmed the pant and shoes sizes match what the 14-year-old was wearing the day he went missing.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...o-fear-fo.html
Avonte may have drowned after running from dog: sources
(Jan. 18, 2014) He may have died facing his two greatest fears -- dogs and water.
Missing autistic teen Avonte Oquendo was seen running from a dog at a nearby park right after he slipped out of his Queens school, and he likely fell into the East River in his panic, law-enforcement sources told The Post Friday.
The drowning scenario is the top theory for Avonte's disappearance and was further substantiated when body parts and clothing believed to be Avonte's were found 11 miles up-river from the park, on a beach in northern Queens.
"He had a huge fear of dogs and was seen running from one" in Hunter's Point South Park, a short walk from his school, the source told The Post of the mute, timid 14-year-old.
"He may have run in a panic and fallen into the water," of which he was also terrified, the source said.
The final surveillance video of Avonte shows him leaving his school in Long IslandCity and walking toward the riverfront park.
Read more: http://nypost.com/2014/01/18/avonte-...police-theory/
is it just me or is it really strange that these quotes are from 'a source'? i've only taken a couple of semesters in journalism but i think the biggest thing i took away is the use of sources. no journalist would use a source who asks to remain anonymous unless it's some groundbreaking story. a dead kid isn't that groundbreaking.
I definitely see unidentified law enforcement sources quoted from time to time, but we never did that at the paper where I worked. I can't recall any law enforcement sources ever even asking to remain anonymous.
Wanna know what really bugs me? Headlines like this: Avonte may have drowned after running from dog: source
When did people start putting the colon with the source of the info at the END? The way we always did it was: "Source: Avonte may have drowned after running from dog" or "Law enforcement: Avonte may have drowned after running from dog" or "Avonte may have drowned after running from dog, source says."
I've noticed certain media outlets doing that lately, and I think it looks stupid.
I'm so sick of hearing about it. Remember the Black kid found in the gym mat? How ridiculous his parents are? Multiply that by 20 and that's Avonte's family. Foul play, conspiracy, aliens, all kinds of shit, while it was probably just this dummy running into the water trying to catch his reflection.
Yeah, when the mom started getting all denial-ish about the remains that were found, I wondered if -- particularly since the body is in parts -- the mom was going to start insisting he was murdered. I really think he just fell in.
And I know the family says Avonte was terrified of the water, but soooo much stuff I read says ASD kids are usually fascinated with and drawn to the water.
Here's an interesting article about Autistic kids running away (and drowning). It's long, so I only pasted part of it, but it's a good read.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/half-au...inglePage=true
Half of All Autistic Kids Will Run Away, Tragedy Often Follows
(May 2, 2013) Within hours one day in April, two children went missing hundreds of miles apart from each other.
On the surface they appear to have little in common.
Angelo Messineo is a 16-year-old from Georgia. He was found alive on a horse farm four days after he disappeared from school on April 16. Alyvia Navarro, 3, of Wareham, Mass., was pronounced dead hours after she was reported missing, drowned in a pond near her grandmother's home, on the same day.
They are just two of the thousands of children who went missing last month.
But Angelo and Alyvia have one thing in common, and it's a trait shared with at least one child who goes missing every day in America. They are autistic.
Nearly half of all children with autism will run away and potentially go missing at least once before their 17th birthday, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Of those who run away, what clinicians call "eloping," many will be found dead.
The numbers alone present a challenge for law enforcement authorities, who regularly rank searches for missing children among the most difficult work they do.
But finding children with autism -- who shirk when their names are called out, who run away at the sound of police sirens, who are afraid of the dogs sent to find them, and who naturally are comforted by burrowing and hiding -- makes a hard job even harder, investigators say.
One in 50 children is diagnosed annually with autism, a spectrum of neurodevelopment disorders marked by problems with social interaction and communication, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. As the number of children who are diagnosed increases, so too does the number of kids who run off, leaving rescuers to learn quickly how best to handle a unique set of challenges.
The stories of Angelo and Alyvia, and dozens of children like them, present two sides of a phenomenon still not entirely understood.
On the one hand, autistic children are more likely to run away than unaffected children. When they do runaway, they are more likely to die than unaffected children. And more often than not, 91 percent of the time, those deaths are a result of drowning.
[snipped]
Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, but girls, like Alyvia, are twice more likely than boys to die after an elopement, according to Lori McIlwain, executive director of the National Autism Association, which tracks eloping incidents and deaths.
In 2012, 195 autistic children went missing, according to the autism association, which only tracks those incidents reported by the media.
Between 2009 and 2011, 91 percent of autistic children younger than 14 died in drowning incidents after elopements. More than two-thirds of those deaths occurred in small natural bodies of water like creeks, lakes, rivers and ponds.
"Oftentimes, children who go missing are low or nonverbal," McIlwain said. "But they know where a pond is. They see it from the car going to and from school every day, but they can't tell mom or dad that they want go to the pond and play. They think about it and when they have the chance, they bolt."
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/half-au...inglePage=true
I feel bad for the family but they're just prolonging the inevitable and looking to blame someone rather than just accept it was an accident. The article I posted from the 17th mentioned the underwear and for the last three days the lawyer has been saying "It doesn't look good". Only NOW they're not his underwear?
Also, authorities have said the running from dogs story is not true.
"Source" is what you refer to someone who is reporting information before it has the all-clear to be reported to the news, and they don't want to get fired. Not uncommon awhen people will act all sorts of irresponsible for a few bucks.
This is really weirdly worded:it makes it sound like 91% of all autistic children on earth died in drowning accidents. I think they mean that 91% of the kids who went missing drowned.Between 2009 and 2011, 91 percent of autistic children younger than 14 died in drowning incidents after elopements. More than two-thirds of those deaths occurred in small natural bodies of water like creeks, lakes, rivers and ponds.
COLLEGE POINT (WABC) -- DNA has confirmed the remains found in Queens are Avonte Oquendo, the Medical Examiner says. His family has been informed.
Qquendo's mother was notified early Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The cause and manner of death are pending
Attorney David Perecman says he will file the legal claim on behalf of the family of Avonte Oquendo, whose remains were found at the edge of the East River last week. Perecman says Avonte's mother, Vanessa Fontaine, is inconsolable.
The remains found last week along the East River - a left arm and lower torso and legs - were identified through DNA given by his family.
A teenager shooting photos for a school project noticed the arm on the riverbank. Police then found the lower part of a torso and legs on the rocks at low tide, along with black Air Jordan sneakers, white socks and tattered denim jeans. A part of a skull and teeth were recovered a few days later.
14-year-old Avonte was last seen on video walking out of his school in Long Island City on October 4.
For weeks, family, friends and strangers searched for Avonte. His missing poster was plastered in the subways, poles and windshields as part of the all-out effort to find him.
The teen, who did not speak, was fascinated with the subway system and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials made announcements on trains for weeks asking for help finding him. Police checked every subway station and tunnel.
One investigative theory was that Avonte might have tumbled into the river near the park, though his family has said he was fearful of water.
The body parts were found at least 11 miles from where he was last seen. Though the remains were found upriver, past densely-populated shoreline and the Rikers Island jail, the East River is a tidal strait with strong currents that reverse flow many times a day.
Avonte's family has filed a notice of claim saying they planned to sue the city, arguing that school officials allowed him to walk out of the building and waited too long to notify police that he was missing. They were waiting until the identification came back to decide whether they would official file suit, according to their lawyer.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ork&id=9401947
No mention of the mysterious underoos by the attorney today...
I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to. - Donnie Darko
i was wondering if there was an incident at school, like he wet his pants or had a peeing mishap in the bathroom and just wet the 'roos, and someone helped him change.... i know that way back in the day, when i was in elementary school, they had things like spare (brand new of course) 'roos and sweat pants in the nurses office for such incidents. i had to walk a pants pee-er down to the nurse for a change of clothes once. and i know that now if someone has a known issue, they can have a spare set stored in their classroom... hm.
god, i love that quote.
* wow you truly are the sterial cunt here are yo not.I fuckin hate you cunt* - LoonywopOriginally Posted by Ron_NYC
★ take the sig down ★ - Loonywop
I had the same thoughts about a bathroom accident, neener. In my kids school (mainstream with a few special needs kids), each class has a few pairs of spare undies and uniform pants, just in case.
It's sad that Avonte's story ended this way. RIP. :(
NEW YORK (PIX11) - An Instagram photo of a NYPD transit officer with a photo of Avonte Oquendo inside his hat has become a possibly unintentional tribute on social media after the boy's death was confirmed by the Medical Examiner.
Harlem resident Pilar Endara, 38, was headed to work around 7:30 a.m. when she saw the officer leaning against the door and noticed the photo inside his hat.
"I was staring at the police officer and was actually thinking about how mean he looked, he was not cracking a smile and was staring into space," Endara said. "I then looked down and when I saw the photo of Avonte taped in his hat my heart melted."
It is not uncommon for a transit officer to keep a picture in his hat, sometimes along with a copy of the Miranda rights. One person even mentioned that in the comments, but for many the photo too powerful to worry about the officer's motives.
Read more: http://pix11.com/2014/01/22/see-it-n...#ixzz2rAXqOYqp
Do you think he kept it there so he could pull it out quick if he saw a kid who resembled him? Whatever the reason, it's still there so I'll take it as a tribute too.
RIP Avonte.
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