BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Two girls, ages 7 and 12, who went missing from a Child & Family Services care facility were found safe after roughly 16 hours. This ordeal left one of their mothers asking, "How?"
“Why wasn't the staff paying more attention to them, knowing that kids like that AWOL?” Brianna Lilley said. “I feel like they are failing as a faculty for what they are supposed to be doing for these children.”
Lilley endured a terrifying night. Her 7-year-old daughter Nova and her friend, 12-year-old Ariyah, went missing for roughly 16 hours Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
The young girls live at the Conners Children's Center on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, a facility run by Child & Family Services.
According to the United Way, this facility “provides individualized intensive treatment for boys and girls that are unable to remain in their own homes due to their behavioral and emotional needs.”
At around 6:30 Monday night, the children left their residence at Conners in the middle of the cold and dangerous weather. They were found late Tuesday morning, about 4.5 miles away, safe inside an apartment on Langfield Drive.
“So why weren’t they keeping more of an eye on these children, like they should have been,” Lilley said.
How were those young kids able to leave their residence?
Q: "Do you know if there are procedures in place or what going on inside the house to make sure something like this doesn’t happen?"
Buffalo Police Chief of Detectives Craig Macy: "I can’t comment on other agencies' procedures, not only I can't comment on that because I personally don’t know, but I also just wouldn’t comment on that."
Child & Family Services released the following statement on Tuesday:
“On the evening of January 20th, two children ages 12 and 7 years old left Child and Family Services’ Delaware campus unsupervised. Child and Family Services staff contacted the Buffalo Police Department for help locating the children, recognizing the urgency of the situation due to the ages of the children and extreme weather conditions.
The Agency and the Buffalo Police Department worked together overnight and throughout this morning to locate the children. Shortly after ten this morning, the children were found safe at a residence in Buffalo. They are both being evaluated. We are extremely grateful for the immediate and thorough response of the Buffalo Police Department.
Child and Family Services will review this incident to determine how the children were able to leave and will make appropriate changes to prevent a similar incidence in the future.”
The two children are being evaluated for injuries before returning to Conners. Brianna told me she’s just grateful her daughter is safe.
