FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — A South Florida father is demanding answers after, he said, his two young sons wandered away from campus and crossed a busy roadway, Tuesday afternoon.
Richard Griffen said his two children, 6-year-old Christopher and 7-year-old Richard, walked out of Dillard Elementary School, located at 2330 N.W. 12th Court in Fort Lauderdale, after classes let out for the day.
The boys then walked down the sidewalk and across the six lanes of Sunrise Boulevard. "It was terrifying, it was terrifying," said Griffen.
The concerned parent said he received a phone call from an after-care provider who notified him that his sons were not at their usual pick-up spot on campus. "I was terrified. I was thinking the worst had happened," said Griffen.
As he rushed to the school, Griffen began imagining worst-case scenarios. "I thought my kids had been abducted. Will I ever see them again?" he said. "All these questions were going through my mind. These kids are my life."
Fort Lauderdale Police were alerted as Griffen continued to worry about his children’s safety.
It wasn’t until about an hour and 45 minutes after their disappearance that a teacher spotted the boys at Franklin Park, located about one mile away from Dillard Elementary.
Griffen and his sons were reunited, but that hasn’t lessened the father’s outrage. "There’s too many kids missing from schools or being abducted in the streets for something like this to happen because someone is not supervising," he said.
Broward County Public Schools spokesperson Nadine Drew released a statement that read, "The school district is reviewing this situation to determine what led to today’s events and whether any changes and procedures need to be implemented to avoid future incidents. The safety of our students is always our highest priority."
But when it comes to the well-being of his boys, Griffen said, actions will speak louder than words. "I want faculty members to be there, until they actually see the student get in a car and authorized to take them to and from school," he said.