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Marion County students dropped off at wrong bus stop
Two Marion County elementary school students were safely reunited with their family after they were mistakenly dropped off at the wrong bus stop on the first day of school, prompting a frantic search by their parents and help from a Good Samaritan.
OCALA, Fla. - Two Marion County kids say they don’t want to go back to Wyomina Elementary School after they were told to get off at the wrong bus stop.
They wound up miles from their home, wandering around for nearly an hour before they were found.
What the kids went through
The backstory:
Tuesday was 10-year-old Aaliyah Gabin and 7-year-old Romeo Gonzalez’s first time on their new bus route, and their first day at school.
They said they had a good day. They played piano, and worked on drawings of beaches. After what happened, that might be the last time they ever go to Wyomina Elementary.
Ocala Police say on their way home, the bus driver told them, ‘This is your stop,’ so they got off and looked for their house.
The kids told FOX 35 they wandered around trying to find something that looked familiar.
Eventually, Romeo got overwhelmed and bolted.
A Good Samaritan found him running back and forth to the median along State Road 40, a busy, high-speed road.
What the parents went through
The place the kids were dropped off was nearly 2 miles from the family’s home. The spot they were eventually found was about a mile from where they were dropped off.
"It makes me so sick to my stomach every time I think about it," said the kids’ mother, Stephanie Gonzalez.
The kids’ bus slip from the school said they were supposed to be dropped off at 3:18pm, so their parents were there waiting for them. When the bus arrived and their kids didn’t, they approached the driver and assistant, who told them the kids had already been dropped off.
Stephanie and Jonathan Gonzalez raced to the other and someone there said they saw two kids hopping in a black SUV. The parents thought their kids had been kidnapped.
"Nobody will calm down when you got your two little ones missing, you now," said the children’s father, Jonathan Gonzalez.
Finally, they got a call from the police – a Good Samaritan had found Romeo running in the street and stopped to help. Then they looked for Aaliyah, and found her right after.
The kids say their parents were freaking out when they finally got to them. The kids were still pretty distraught too.
What the Marion County School District is saying
The other side:
The Marion County School District responded to FOX 35 about this incident in a statement:
"Tuesday, two students attending their first day of class at Wyomina Park Elementary School were released at the wrong bus stop. Fortunately, a good samaritan in our community saw the children, stopped to ensure their safety, and contacted Ocala Police. Those students were safely reunited with their parents, and we are now investigating to determine how and why the incident happened."
What the Ocala Police Department is saying
Ocala Police told FOX 35 in a statement, which read, "Ocala Police responded after citizens observed two children who had been dropped off at the wrong bus stop and stayed with them until officers arrived. The children were safely reunited with their parents. We appreciate the citizen who took action to help and we remind everyone: if you see something that doesn’t look right, say something."
What's next:
The Gonzalez family says they’re considering home schooling their kids from now on.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by 10-year-old Aaliyah Gabin and 7-year-old Romeo Gonzalez, Romeo's parents Jonathan and Stephanie Gonzalez, the Marion County School District, and the Ocala Police Department.