Parents speak after child found alone outside of Wilmington daycare

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — There have been reports of a toddler walking out of a local daycare, and being found by a stranger wandering by a road.  The Price family says this happened to their son on February 2.

Michelle and Geoffrey Price say their two-year-old son was able to walk out of the Excel Learning Academy on Vision Drive unnoticed.

“The explanation they offered to us, was that he was –they thought he was in the bathroom, and so, that’s concerning, because a child should be supervised really at all times,” said Michelle Price.

A Good Samaritan driving down the road found the toddler wandering alone along the edge of the daycare’s property near a ditch, and returned him to staff.

“He knew how to talk to kids, because he’s a grandfather, and you know –crouched down and got on his level and said ‘hey little buddy, what are you doing?’ and our son pointed to a construction site. He was going to –probably try to play on the excavator, and he said ‘well it’s cold, let’s go inside’, and he was able to get him to follow him back inside and hold his hand,” said Michelle.

After she was notified of the incident, Michelle Price reported what happened to the state division of child development and early education that same day, saying she and her husband have many questions about how this happened.

Their son had attended the daycare since he was four months old, since turning two his parents have been concerned about his most recent classroom at the daycare.

He is now attending a different daycare.

“My first and biggest feeling, –for me was thankfulness and gratefulness that our child was safe,” said Geoffrey Price.

“Some days you think you’re okay and other days you have a really hard day, and it was a complete violation of trust,” said Michelle.

WWAY reached out to the NCDHHS’s Division of Child Development and Early Education. It says it is aware of the incident and is considering the next steps.

We also reached out to the Excel Learning Academy, and they said no comment.

“It’s a standard commercial door, but what they have is a small little paddle, that was approximately 30 inches off the ground, to about chest high to our two-year old son, and in order to open that door, all he had to do was apply a little bit of pressure to that paddle –into that door, and he could walk right out,” said Geoffrey.

The two are encouraging parents looking for a daycare to utilize NCDHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education online “Child Care Facility Search“, to view violations centers have had, and to continue to check for violations regularly.

“Following your gut is important, parents have a God given instinct to know when something’s not right with their kids, and I think it’s important to listen that, and then reporting concerns that you have. If you see something, say something,” said Michelle.

The Price family is encouraging other parents to contact state lawmakers and the NC Child Care Commission, and urge them to require daycares to have cameras, and to notify parents of violations.