A search is underway for a missing boy, 12-year-old Bryan Vasquez, who has not been seen since Thursday, August 14, in New Orleans East. Vasquez went missing from his family’s New Orleans East home, following which searches are being conducted using boats, divers, and thermal drones.
Vasquez is autistic and non-verbal, and vanished after he slipped out of a bedroom window. He does not have his seizure medication with him, WAFB reported.
Vasquez was reported missing to the New Orleans Police Department at 10 am on Thursday. He suffers from a neurodevelopmental condition, is nonverbal and does not understand English or Spanish, fox8live reported.
Vasquez has been described as Hispanic. He has brown eyes and black hair, is 5′1″ and weighs between 86 and 100 pounds. He was seen on Ring doorbell video on Thursday morning, wearing just an adult diaper.
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Vasquez’s family and volunteers have said they remain hopeful. “We will have hope that Bryan is found safe. We will always have hope until the last minute and even after that,” Vasquez’s mother, Christie said, per WAFB. “If we recover Bryan’s body for any chance that he’s no longer with us, we will still be grateful that we’re able to find him.”
Bryan Vasquez’s family wants an Amber Alert
Vasquez’s family, supported by community spokesperson Christiane Rosales Fajardo, has said that an endangered missing child advisory is not enough. They have demanded that an Amber Alert be issued.
“We need an Amber Alert. It’s never too late for an Amber Alert. And we need the city and state leaders to be out here with this family, using their resources to help us find Bryan,” Fajardo said, according to WWLTV.
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Louisiana State Police explained that Amber Alerts require confirmation of an abduction, under Department of Justice guidelines. This standard was not met in Vasquez’s case, they said. A Level II Endangered Missing Child advisory has been issued instead. His information is being displayed on highway signs and shared on social media.
Several neighbors and volunteers from as far as Mississippi and Texas have joined the search for Vasquez. Some said they were motivated to help by their own experiences raising autistic children.
The NOPD has urged all residents in the area of Chef Menteur Highway to Dwyer Road to Michoud Boulevard to Interstate 510 to check their backyards, under raised homes/buildings and other places, just in case it helps locate Vasquez. Anyone with information about his whereabouts has been asked to call 911.
