Found Safe Kayla Durler, 17, Mistakenly sent to school when school was closed, Pittsburgh, 5 January 2024

[24Roses]

Thank you Jesus! I was so worried about this young woman.

 

[Dotta]

Phew!
What a scary situation!!
Wake up call for the carers of this young Lady!

I wonder where she spent the night.
Next time (God forbid) might not end with Happy End.

But, tell you what

Knowing kids/teens,
she might consider this situation the adventure of a lifetime.
Lots to tell her friends.

JMO

 

[mickey2942]

A happy ending. And the world really is full of caring people. Hopefully, she is safe and sound, and time for people to review what happened here...

 

[sds71]

Dejan_Kovacevic

Columnist covering #Steelers #Penguins and #Pirates

She's fine. She showed up in front of our HQ/shop a few minutes ago. My wife took her inside, and police are on hand now to reconnect her with family.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743750199564960130

 

[steeltowngirl]

So was she in downtown alone overnight? It was very cold last night, and there is only one shelter - at Second Avenue.

Wow. This could have ended very badly.
So glad she has been found!

 

[MollyHarps]

I am so happy she’s been found alive.

Thank you to the coffee shop owner who took her in and contacted the relevant authorities.

 

[kaen]

This is awsome news. She is so lucky given the weather and other hazards out there.

Now, it is important to get to how this happened so that everyone who is accountable is noted AND procedure reviews happen so that it never, ever happens again.

Good to see something positive rather than my fears confirmed.

 

[Lucy6226]

Fantastic news, I was so worried about the outcome of this. I hope procedures will be put in place to prevent this happening again

 

[nerosleuth]

This is awsome news. She is so lucky given the weather and other hazards out there.

Now, it is important to get to how this happened so that everyone who is accountable is noted AND procedure reviews happen so that it never, ever happens again.

Good to see something positive rather than my fears confirmed.

It is awesome indeed that Kayla has been found safe and sound, and there is a happy ending.

I agree that there should be an investigation to determine the root causes into how this colossal blunder happened that never ever should have happened in the first place.

I believe that after the tough questions are asked concerning the root causes, it will be determined that procedures weren't followed and there will be plenty of blame to go around for all that were involved in this colossal blunder.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Volunteer who found missing girl with Down syndrome in Pittsburgh shares details on the search

Community members stepped up to find the missing girl Saturday afternoon and reunite her with her parents. She had been missing for more than 30 hours and was hungry but seemingly okay.

www.wpxi.com

“It was probably the most intense change of emotions I’ve ever felt,” said Rebecca Bykoski of Pittsburgh.

Bykoski spotted the teen, who has Down syndrome, around 3:30 Saturday afternoon after an hours-long search in the cold with dozens of other volunteers.

****
Bykoski said she ended up finding Durler in plain sight, standing in front of a retail shop, DK Pittsburgh Sports on Fifth Avenue.

“I ran up to her and I said, ‘Kayla, oh my gosh are you okay?’ I said, ‘We’ve been looking for you. There have been so many people looking for you,’” Bykoski said. “I asked her if she was okay. She said, ‘Yes.’ I asked her if she had been scared and she said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Would you like a hug?’ and we had a hug.”

*****
Jamie Ward, the founder of Jamie’s Dream Team, started a small search party for Durler Friday night. By the next morning, the group of six volunteers had expanded into 100 volunteers handing out flyers across the entire city.

More in article and video

 

[katydid23]

A little more info.

“Police told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that Kayla was dropped off at school after traveling from a group home in West Mifflin.”

Teen girl who had been missing since Friday morning found safe, Allegheny County police say

Police said she was dropped off at Sto-Rox High School Friday morning.

www.wtae.com

If the school was closed, and no one was there to meet the student, why couldn't the driver return to the group home? There were people at the group home, by definition, imo.

 

[katydid23]

Ya'll know what time it is---HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!!!

 

[steeltowngirl]

Volunteer who found missing girl with Down syndrome in Pittsburgh shares details on the search

Community members stepped up to find the missing girl Saturday afternoon and reunite her with her parents. She had been missing for more than 30 hours and was hungry but seemingly okay.

www.wpxi.com

“It was probably the most intense change of emotions I’ve ever felt,” said Rebecca Bykoski of Pittsburgh.

Bykoski spotted the teen, who has Down syndrome, around 3:30 Saturday afternoon after an hours-long search in the cold with dozens of other volunteers.

****
Bykoski said she ended up finding Durler in plain sight, standing in front of a retail shop, DK Pittsburgh Sports on Fifth Avenue.

“I ran up to her and I said, ‘Kayla, oh my gosh are you okay?’ I said, ‘We’ve been looking for you. There have been so many people looking for you,’” Bykoski said. “I asked her if she was okay. She said, ‘Yes.’ I asked her if she had been scared and she said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Would you like a hug?’ and we had a hug.”

*****
Jamie Ward, the founder of Jamie’s Dream Team, started a small search party for Durler Friday night. By the next morning, the group of six volunteers had expanded into 100 volunteers handing out flyers across the entire city.

More in article and video

Great work by Jamie’s Dream Team and everyone that joined in their search. Mr. Rogers would be very proud.

My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world." - Fred Rogers

 

[Springrain]

Dejan_Kovacevic

Columnist covering #Steelers #Penguins and #Pirates

She's fine. She showed up in front of our HQ/shop a few minutes ago. My wife took her inside, and police are on hand now to reconnect her with family.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743750199564960130

Thank you Jesus!!!

 

[Kittybunny]

Great work by Jamie’s Dream Team and everyone that joined in their search. Mr. Rogers would be very proud.

My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world." - Fred Rogers

I'm so happy that she was found! Market Square is full of people that I'm surprised it even took this long! I live close to downtown and was going to head there myself today if she hadn't been and see if you wanted to join me!

 

[Springrain]

Oh my goodness I hope she’s found safe.

A lot of my role used to involve working with vulnerable children in special schools - I just cannot understand this situation at all.

The transport drivers at the schools I was at would never let a child get off the bus unaccompanied - there’s a clear handover process in place.

Also these transport drivers often pick up other children - surely the other children’s parents would have notified them that the school was closed?

I really hope this girl is safe

Yes - the most important thing is that she was found safe and alive, thank GOD, but this situation should not have happened AT ALL in the first place IMO as a special education worker/soon-to-be special education teacher. There are IMO provably so many red flags and outright illegal actions that led to Kayla's disappearance in the first place starting from the transportation services being out of compliance with her IEP JMO.

 

[bestill]

I suspect that her family is going to be advised about how to proceed in the future with this investigation and I think it's going to involve several avenues. All JMO

 

[Springrain]

Hi all! Checking in after I've come home from work in special education.

Out of curiosity I timed approximately how long loading the kids onto the bus for dismissal took today. This was a good, more laid-back day for my comparatively small group of kids, without any major behavioral concerns. The bus loading included multiple kids with Down's syndrome as well as two wheelchair users and some other kids receiving special education services. It took just a hair under 20 minutes. Again, this was for a smaller group of kids who today did not have major behavioral concerns - and the wheelchairs did not take that much time, maybe 2-3 minutes each per wheelchair user (6 minutes total, if that - probably closer to 4-5). For reference, I work at a high school, so all the kids in question are high school-aged, like Kayla.

In my experience, bus arrivals at school in the morning are shorter for a couple reasons, but not that much shorter, it still takes a good chunk of time. With elementary kids I have worked with before (who had the same disabilities as the high schoolers I work with now - Down's, mobility issues, and other moderate-severe disabilities) the morning drop-off would be about 15 or so minutes. In high school, it's less than that, but not by a ton. 12ish minutes on a typical day, I would estimate. (Haven't timed it like I did today with bus pick-up).

With a very small group of students, or if just one student had to be transported (which does happen from time to time for legitimate reasons), it typically doesn't take that long, but it can if there are certain factors at play (ex: often it is behavioral issues such as meltdowns, can also include health issues, bathroom accidents, etc.). Even if there is only one student who is not presenting behavioral concerns at all and is being cheerful, laid-back, etc. it's most certainly not a "drop them off and skedaddle" thing.

MOO: I have concerns about how much training is given by this district about special education students and transportation for the bus drivers. It is not only a matter of legality, but also general safety concerns, because stuff like THIS can happen which is not only illegal, yes, but also really, really scary because Kayla was put in a very unsafe situation, and thank God she was fine. But there was no guarantee that it would turn out that way.

All my opinion only.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Petition calls for 'Purple Alert' designation in Pennsylvania after 17-year-old with Down snydrome safely found in Downtown Pittsburgh

A purple alert is aimed at quickly specifying that a missing person has special needs.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[steeltowngirl]

I'm so happy that she was found! Market Square is full of people that I'm surprised it even took this long! I live close to downtown and was going to head there myself today if she hadn't been and see if you wanted to join me!

I would have joined you! I work in town but we WFH on Fridays. I didn’t see news Friday or Saturday and didn’t know she was missing at all until I saw it on here and she was already found!