WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – A local mother said she was frantic in the moments it took to locate her son who had been mistakenly left on a school bus.
The incident happened at a daycare and child development center in Garden City.
"Honestly, I thought they may have killed my child and was trying to cover it up," said mother Tiffani Thomas.
She is reeling after the traumatic experience with her 5-year-old son, Gavin. He went missing, left on a school bus, alone.
"I didn't know. A lot of bad thoughts ran through my mind," she said. "He has ADHD, he has a speech impairment where he doesn't talk very well."
Gavin was supposed to be at the Jade Childcare Development Center in Garden City. The daycare picks him up from school and buses him to the center every day except for on Friday.
Thomas said she searched the whole daycare for Gavin but couldn't find him. He was left outside on the bus, cold and alone, for almost two hours.
"I was, like, crumbling on the sidewalk because I didn't know," she said.
Gavin was in such bad shape he had to be taken to a hospital.
"He was crying, he was wet, he had urinated himself," she said. "They said he had frost nip on his feet which is the first degree of frostbite."
A teacher was fired for leaving Gavin on the bus. But that's not enough for Thomas; She wants the place shut down.
The owner of the daycare center, Rhonda Guido, released the following statement:
Jade CDC Garden City is dedicated to the health, safety and welfare of our children. We are fully cooperating with the state. The teacher that was responsible did not follow policies that she was fully trained on and was immediately fired. Our hearts go out to the family.
Regarding medical bills:
I self reported the incident to the state. Of course we will help with Gavin's medical bills related to this incident. I was not aware of medical bills. I spoke with mom Friday night and assured her I would help in any way I could."