La Joya: Broken radio, wrong bus number led to abandoned boy

The mother of a six-year-old boy who was left miles from home in a bus mix-up Monday will be driving her son to and from school for a while.

According to a statement released by the La Joya school district, the events that led to the unidentified first-grader being dropped off several miles from his home instead of at an after-school day care combined parent error, poor oversight and a broken bus radio.

The boy's parent met with school officials this morning, according to district spokeswoman Lizette Martinez.

The mother had indicated that her child should board bus 18 to get to his day care, although a different bus, 86, actually dropped students there. Although the district's transportation department realized the error, according to the statement, the bus driver's radio was not working and he dropped the child off at the wrong bus stop.

The child was spotted by a stranger who called the police.

E. B. Reyna Elementary School staff will ride buses with the students this afternoon.

The district's police department will continue investigating the incident, according to Martinez.

The boy, whose name was not released, was one of two children in Hidalgo County who went missing after the first day of school. The other, 6-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez of McAllen, was dropped at the wrong day care and located after a police search.