EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A mother is voicing serious concerns after she says her 6-year-old daughter was left alone on a daycare bus for over two hours on Monday.
Crystal Maldonado said her daughter, Mia, was supposed to be picked up from Harmony School of Excellence in the Lower Valley at 3:15 p.m. on Monday and taken to Friends Daycare on Alameda.
However, when a family friend arrived at the daycare around 5:30 p.m., staff claimed Mia was never there.
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“They told him that Mia wasn’t there and that she didn’t even go to school,” Maldonado said.
She says, despite her insistence, the daycare continued to deny Mia’s presence until a staff member eventually checked the daycare van. “She walked in with Mia, she walked to the, like, inside the daycare with Mia, and said that she had found her in the van,” Maldonado recounted.
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Maldonado says Mia was found asleep in the van around 6:30 p.m., having been left alone for over two hours.
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“Mia was, like, half asleep, just like, not even knowing what’s going on,” Maldonado said.
She adds that no incident report was provided by Friends Daycare, prompting Maldonado to file reports with Child Protective Services and the El Paso police.
She has since decided to remove her children from the daycare. “I’m done. I’d just, um, I’d rather take them somewhere else,” she said.
Friends Daycare confirmed an investigation is underway, but declined to comment further.
Texas Health and Human Services acknowledged awareness of the incident and referred inquiries to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, who we are waiting to hear back from.
Updates will be provided as they become available.
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