LONG ISLAND CITY (WABC) —
Authorities say 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, an autistic teen from Queens, has been found in East Harlem.
Police found Oquendo during a search near a supermarket and an apartment building along 121st Street in East Harlem on Tuesday afternoon after someone reported seeing the boy.
Oquendo was found at 123rd Street and Lexington Avenue, officials said. He was taken St. Lukes Hospital for evaluation.
He had not been seen leaving the Center Boulevard School located at 1-50 51st Avenue in Long Island City on Friday afternoon. Surveillance video shows Avonte simply running out the door.
The search for Oquendo took officers underground into subway tunnels on Monday and Tuesday.
Officials said Oquendo has been drawn to subways in the past, and they fear he might be in the subway tunnels. He has disappeared as many as three times in the past, and each time ended up in subway stations.
His mother says Oquendo has the mind of a 7-year-old and is not verbal. She told Eyewitness News that he is supposed to be given one-on-one supervision at all times. She wants to know where his teacher was and what happened to the guard at the door.
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