5-year-old child dropped off school bus miles from home, mother says

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By Elsa Gillis

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Foremans are still imagining the worst after the scariest end to the first day of kindergarten for their daughter A'lana.

"Just imagine what could have happened to her? She could be on a milk carton now," Gerald Foreman told Channel 9.

Their 5-year-old was supposed to be picked up at Nathaniel Alexander Elementary in Charlotte by car by her great-aunt, but her mother, Gerria Foreman, got a call from the aunt saying A'lana wasn't there.

"They told her that they were trying to locate her,” Gerria Foreman said. “She had gotten on the bus after we consented for her to be a car rider."

After calling the school, Gerria Foreman said she was told the bus was turning around to bring A'lana back, but she said that never happened.

Instead, her husband, Gerald, got a strange call while at work.

"A guy saying, 'I have a child here. Is this Mr. Foreman? I got her information off of her bag, I just noticed that she was here on the side, standing by herself crying,'" the stranger told the father on the phone.

They said she was dropped off in a northeast Charlotte neighborhood, 5 miles from her home.

"She got off the bus with no one there to receive her," Gerria Foreman said. "And I guess the bus kept on going, because the gentleman found her, standing there crying by herself. Nobody else got off at the stop is what I was told."

The Foremans said the people who found A'lana also called the police, who came and picked her up, and took her back to the school. The Foremans said they are grateful to the people who found their daughter, called the police and comforted her until police came.

Now, they're waiting for answers.

"Who's to answer for that? Why did this happen? Why did the bus driver let her off? Who consented for her to even get on the bus in the first place?" the mother said.

We reached out to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about this situation and they said they were still working to get information about bus issues. In Monday's media briefing, school officials said it is typical to experience late buses and some other bus issues in the first few weeks, and they will be working to get everything on track.

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