Mom wants answers after 6th grader leaves school, found more than a mile away

Nikita Blumenshine said she received a call around 11 a.m. on Jan. 26 from an employee at McDonald’s on N.C. Highway 39 informing her that her son was found alone asking strangers for a ride home.

“I thought, 'How could this happen?' That is so far from school,” Blumenshine said. “I was so angry and so scared for him, and I was just shaking.”

The 6th grade student, who has high-functioning autism, was involved in a serious bullying incident earlier in the day. Blumenshine said he escaped after being left alone in an office by a school counselor.

She believes her son feared for his safety because of the “relentless bullying” he has endured all school year.

“The day he left the school, a student got up out of their seat and tried to physically attack him and a teacher had to intervene and stop that,” said Blumenshine.

At 10:28 a.m., Blumenshine said the counselor called to notify her of the altercation in class but did not mention her son’s disappearance.

At 11:01 a.m., she received the call from the McDonald’s employee.

At 11:30 a.m., the counselor called Blumenshine a second time and explained that the boy could not be found.

Blumenshine estimates her son was lost for at least one hour.

“It could have gone very wrong,” she said. “Considering he walked about two miles over roads, highways [and] railroad tracks, he was gone a while.”

Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow confirmed school leaders at STEM Early High School never called 911 or alerted officers to the situation.

“Our first notification of the incident came Friday from the mother,” Barrow said. “We are working in conjunction with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office to look into this matter.”

WRAL News reached out to Vance County Schools and to Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett, but neither responded to emails on Monday seeking answers about the timeline of the student’s disappearance and any protocols that were not followed.

In an email to Blumenshine on Jan. 29, three days after the incident, Bennett wrote, “I offer my sincere apology that this occurred and will commit to resolving this situation and ensure that it does not happen again on any campus. I am so thankful that your child is safe and was not injured.”

Blumenshine is demanding accountability and more security.

“The doors need to be watched more closely to make sure other kids don’t do this,” Blumenshine said.

“If it had been myself who let him walk away and miles down the road and found by a stranger I would be arrested and charged. I would have my children taken from me. Just because it is a school doesn’t mean we should just let it go.”