Volusia daycare under investigation

SEVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Two toddlers somehow escaped their daycare, according to authorities, and were found down a very busy road at a gas station. The Florida Department of Children and Families is now investigating the incident at Little Panda's Child Development Center, on U.S. Highway 17 in Seville.  A woman who found the children said when she saw them and "wanted to cry," because she was so worried about them. 

It is approximately 100 yards between the fence from which the children allegedly escaped to the gas station where that woman found them.  A Volusia County deputy noted in his report that one of the children could barely walk and was moving slowly.  

According to the report from the Sheriff's Office, the one-year-old and the three-year-old got out through the back gate at the daycare and the woman who spotted them told deputies the kids couldn't tell her who they were or where they came from. That woman walked them into the convenience store at the gas station, and about 15 minutes later, teachers from the daycare center showed up.

"So I ran to get them, and I got to their level and asked them where mommy was. The oldest one actually started crying, so I told her it will be fine," the woman explained. "I went in the store, and I asked the cashier if she happened to know the little girls, and she told me no. So I told her, well, you need to call 911, because there is nobody out there. They were walking alone, and I didn't know how long they had been out there.  So she called 911, and I stayed with the girls, until the parents got there.

According to deputies, the children's teacher noticed they were missing after everyone went back into the center after "outside time."  She is being charged with child neglect.