Child with autism found after wandering out of Southfield school

SOUTHFIELD, MIch. (WJBK) - Ashley McLay is demanding answers from the Southfield school district.

Her 5 year old autistic son Bryce Cannon attends McIntyre Elementary. On Wednesday, he wandered off during morning recess, and later found safely.

"He's autistic," said McLay. "You are trained for this. You understand his needs. How did my son go missing?"

According to mom, the school told her Bryce went missing for roughly 13 minutes, but she feels that timeline doesn't add up.

"One, he left during recess," she said. "Recess is over with at 11:50. I went and got the police report this morning. The police were not called until 12:06."

Fortunately Bryce Cannon didn't wander too far. He walked from the school over to a woman's backyard, she found him lying on the patio soaking wet.

Sarah Thompson heard someone knocking on her back door.

"He was laying down on the patio," said Thompson. "Like a kid playing, but he was all wet. So I said come on in, come on. So he came in and just walked all through the house."

She debated on what to do next, but decided to call the police.

"With a child like that, they certainly need attention," Thompson said. "You can't just let them go without being supervised."

"Anything could have happened to my child," McLay said.

This concerned mother is also questioning if her son had been neglected all morning before he went missing.

"I'm just wondering, why was he soaking wet," McLay said. "The pull ups he wears, he can go in them at least two or three times, so you had to not change him all day long."

A spokesperson for the school district says administrators at McIntyre Elementary took immediate action.

The school is also changing recess time for the child's class and is looking to include a tracking device for him as well.