NY NY - Patrick Alford, 7, Brooklyn, 22 Jan 2010 - #1

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Texas Mist said:
After reading at ^^^^ link, I wonder -- wouldn't someone on the street see him & wonder why he was out by himself after dark? I mean, someone with good sense & not a perv....I would certainly notice in my neighborhood if a little one was out on the streets...for one thing, not too many kids are out during the day, so one after dark would catch my attention if I was out & about.
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They have been running his story on the NYC news the last couple nights which is great. It was the 2nd story last night.

Regarding seeing a boy walking alone - this is NYC and there are so many people out all the time, including kids, it would not be strange to see at all. I see kids out by themselves all the time. Because most of us live in apts the sidewalks serve as kids yards. In my neighborhood there are kids riding their bikes, playing 4 square, they have a portable basket-ball goal set up, all on the sidewalk. It just isn't the same as living in a 'normal' city or suburb and seeing a child out alone at night.

The weather over the weekend was better than it had been by getting into the 40's but reaching freezing temps at night. Today it is very rainy and gloomy but it is 54degrees.
 
gaia227 said:
They have been running his story on the NYC news the last couple nights which is great. It was the 2nd story last night.

Regarding seeing a boy walking alone - this is NYC and there are so many people out all the time, including kids, it would not be strange to see at all. I see kids out by themselves all the time. Because most of us live in apts the sidewalks serve as kids yards. In my neighborhood there are kids riding their bikes, playing 4 square, they have a portable basket-ball goal set up, all on the sidewalk. It just isn't the same as living in a 'normal' city or suburb and seeing a child out alone at night.

The weather over the weekend was better than it had been by getting into the 40's but reaching freezing temps at night. Today it is very rainy and gloomy but it is 54degrees.
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I rarely watch the local news. Any interviews with the foster family that might shed some light on this?
 
I have not seen any interviews with the biological or foster parents. It has just been the anchors covering the story with a couple street shots from the area he supposedly ran away from. They have been pretty short stories. They did say last night it was not clear why he had been placed in foster care. They reported LE had spoken to his biological mother and didn't think foul play is involved. I don't what that means exactly. Is that just bad phrasing or did LE speak to his mother, she gave them some information which leads the to think Patrick is okay? There seems to be little information out there.

Here is a map of the area. I set it to street view but I don't know if it will translate. If not, you can always choose street view yourself. It gives you a good idea of the neighborhood which is mostly apartment complexes.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ned=us&tab=nl

From what I can tell from the subway map the closest train is the L Train and that is about a 20 minute walk from where Patrick was living. If you stay on the L it will take you into Manhattan. From the L train there are several stops where someone could transfer to another train before getting into Manhattan which could take you further into Brooklyn, all the way Queens or into Manhattan. He would need either a Metrocard to board the train or $2.50 to buy a fare or at 7 yrs old he was small enough he could duck under the turn style. If he hopped on a bus he would still need either $2.50 or a Metrocard. There are numerous buses in his neighborhood he could have boarded.
 
gaia227 said:
I have not seen any interviews with the biological or foster parents. It has just been the anchors covering the story with a couple street shots from the area he supposedly ran away from. They have been pretty short stories. They did say last night it was not clear why he had been placed in foster care. They reported LE had spoken to his biological mother and didn't think foul play is involved. I don't what that means exactly. Is that just bad phrasing or did LE speak to his mother, she gave them some information which leads the to think Patrick is okay? There seems to be little information out there.

Here is a map of the area. I set it to street view but I don't know if it will translate. If not, you can always choose street view yourself. It gives you a good idea of the neighborhood which is mostly apartment complexes.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ned=us&tab=nl

From what I can tell from the subway map the closest train is the L Train and that is about a 20 minute walk from where Patrick was living. If you stay on the L it will take you into Manhattan. From the L train there are several stops where someone could transfer to another train before getting into Manhattan which could take you further into Brooklyn, all the way Queens or into Manhattan. He would need either a Metrocard to board the train or $2.50 to buy a fare or at 7 yrs old he was small enough he could duck under the turn style. If he hopped on a bus he would still need either $2.50 or a Metrocard. There are numerous buses in his neighborhood he could have boarded.
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Or did LE just mean there was no foul play involving bio-mom, meaning she didn't take him ?

The following statement is based on my own biased opinion.

I'm tellin ya, it's not being covered like it should be because the state has custody. Looks very bad to go losing other people's children within weeks of taking them. People might stop trusting them which means they might protest to funding them.

They need to aggressively look for this little boy. The state has all the resources to get his name & face plastered on every media outlet and prove it's really about doing what's best for this child.
 
This little boy looks like a sweetheart, I hope he is found soon!! I have to agree the state don't want to look bad and lord forbid they picked someone to care for him, that would bring him harm..........
 
Unfortunately, I think you guys are right about the lack of coverage having to do with the fact he was in state custody. NYC Dept of Child Protective Services have had several high profile F'up's in the last few years and have caught A LOT of heat. The most high profile lately was the case of poor Nixmary Brown which was really just sheer negligence on the part of her case worker. Anyone who layed eyes on that child, trained or not, could have been able to tell she was in a horribly abusive situation. However, there are plenty of good case workers and they are stuck between a rock and a hard place because they are not being given the funding by NY state to do their jobs appropriately and I think this is the case in most states. Workers have so many case loads they can't keep up, they can't devote the time needed to each individual case. It is a travesty as I am certain every state in this union could find programs which were much less important than protecting the welfare of children. Anywhooo, off my soap box now, sorry about that.

My point was I agree with the sumation the state does not want a lot of coverage on this because it will just make them continue to look bad and negligent. I wish they had more stringent application processes for foster parents. I know there are lots of great ones but there are also plenty who do it simply for the money and too often they don't use that money to properly take care of the children they are supposed to be supervising.

Poor Patrick. I wonder if life was so bad there he was that desperate to get away? Or, almost as sad, he might have just missed his mom so much he was trying to get back to her.
Sadly, I have to wonder if something did not go awry inside the apt with the foster mother or father or an older child and Patrick was harmed in some way. People let things slip unconsciously and the fact the foster mother said they were going to the trash compactor makes me cringe a little bit.
 
New article today. We now have HIS BIO MOTHER'S NAME! (But still not the foster mother.) And it turns out she really did leave him outside when she took out the trash......

Cops looking for 7-year-old Staten Island boy missing from foster home

Police are seeking the public's help in finding a 7-year-old Staten Island boy who went missing from a Brooklyn foster home over the weekend.

Patrick Alford was last seen at about 9 p.m. Friday, leaving the lobby of the Spring Creek development at 130 Vandalia Ave. in East New York.

He had just been placed with a foster mother in the apartment complex three weeks prior, after his own mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, 23, of New Brighton, was arrested on petit larceny charges, said Ms. Rodriguez's aunt, Brenda Ortiz.

[snip]

"He had no coat on," Ms. Ortiz said, adding that police dogs lost his scent in the area of the Belt Parkway.

"We're looking ourselves," she said. "We went to Brooklyn, we put out fliers."

His foster mother, who authorities did not identify to the Advance, told authorities that she and Patrick went through the lobby of the building to throw out the garbage, according to Ms. Ortiz. She went back upstairs to her apartment to take a phone call and when she came back down, Patrick was gone, Ms. Ortiz said.

[snip]

Ms. Ortiz said she didn't believe Patrick was trying to return to his mother and couldn't think of where he might be headed. "We don't know," she said. "We think something happened to him. I don't know. Everybody's a wreck."

More: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/cops_look_for_7-year-old_state.html
 
Idaho4Groenes said:
New article today. We now have HIS BIO MOTHER'S NAME! (But still not the foster mother.) And it turns out she really did leave him outside when she took out the trash......

Cops looking for 7-year-old Staten Island boy missing from foster home

Police are seeking the public's help in finding a 7-year-old Staten Island boy who went missing from a Brooklyn foster home over the weekend.

Patrick Alford was last seen at about 9 p.m. Friday, leaving the lobby of the Spring Creek development at 130 Vandalia Ave. in East New York.

He had just been placed with a foster mother in the apartment complex three weeks prior, after his own mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, 23, of New Brighton, was arrested on petit larceny charges, said Ms. Rodriguez's aunt, Brenda Ortiz.

[snip]

"He had no coat on," Ms. Ortiz said, adding that police dogs lost his scent in the area of the Belt Parkway.

"We're looking ourselves," she said. "We went to Brooklyn, we put out fliers."

His foster mother, who authorities did not identify to the Advance, told authorities that she and Patrick went through the lobby of the building to throw out the garbage, according to Ms. Ortiz. She went back upstairs to her apartment to take a phone call and when she came back down, Patrick was gone, Ms. Ortiz said.

[snip]

Ms. Ortiz said she didn't believe Patrick was trying to return to his mother and couldn't think of where he might be headed. "We don't know," she said. "We think something happened to him. I don't know. Everybody's a wreck."

More: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/cops_look_for_7-year-old_state.html
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That's unfortunate that she left him for a moment for a phone call. At least they sent out the dogs and they did pick up a scent. The Belt Parkway? Oh my!
 
webrocket said:
That's unfortunate that she left him for a moment for a phone call. At least they sent out the dogs and they did pick up a scent. The Belt Parkway? Oh my!
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hi there webrocket...i have never been to the east....what is the Belt Parkway? your "oh my!" has me worried....tia! :)
 
If they really did track Patrick's scent to a major highway, and then lost it, it sounds like he may have been picked up.

I wonder why the foster mom had to go back up to the apartment to take the call? Did another child run down and tell her she had a call on a phone in the apartment? Was it a cell phone? Why would she leave him alone?

I am also very worried that his family does not think that Patrick is trying to get back to his mother.
 
Idaho4Groenes said:
If they really did track Patrick's scent to a major highway, and then lost it, it sounds like he may have been picked up.

I wonder why the foster mom had to go back up to the apartment to take the call? Did another child run down and tell her she had a call on a phone in the apartment? Was it a cell phone? Why would she leave him alone?

I am also very worried that his family does not think that Patrick is trying to get back to his mother.
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A little NYC geography might help here.

Staten Island, where the boy is from, is the only one of the 5 boroughs that make up NYC that is NOT connected by subways. You can only get there by car, bus or ferry.

I don't know how street savvy he was, but he probably was aware that there were no subways to get home (if that is where he wanted to go). If he had not been to Brooklyn before, coming upon the Belt Parkway may have been quite a shock.

He was not struck by a car as there would have been a report of that. If the scent was lost then I would have to conclude he was picked up by someone. A kindly citizen would have called the cops by now.

Not looking good.
 
Idaho4Groenes said:
If they really did track Patrick's scent to a major highway, and then lost it, it sounds like he may have been picked up.

I wonder why the foster mom had to go back up to the apartment to take the call? Did another child run down and tell her she had a call on a phone in the apartment? Was it a cell phone? Why would she leave him alone?

I am also very worried that his family does not think that Patrick is trying to get back to his mother.
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This is the part that bothers me too.
Foster mom says for 3 weeks Patrick has tried to run away to his mom.
She takes Patrick with her to the trash compactor, located in the lobby of the apartment building. Why? Did she need help carrying the garbage?
Was it his chore?
Then, inexplicably, has to run back upstairs to take a phone call.

That statement does not hold together for me.
So, who tells her she has a phone call?
If she is going back up to the apartment, then why not take Patrick with her, since she says he runs away.
If she need to finish up, why not say, tell them I will call back.

Patrick's scent tracked to the Brooklyn Pkwy, was it that day or another day?

Is there a security camera in the lobby and he was seen leaving as soon as foster mom went upstairs, or is there a manager in the lobby?

Patrick is 7 yrs old. He is old enough to understand that mom has to go to jail for a little while.

Something is just not right.
 
patrick was taken away from home due to his mother's petty larceny? it seems odd that he would be taken away from home for such a thing (unless mom was going to jail, in which case why would he be trying to run HOME to see her?). it's a crime that needs to be punished, but unless we don't know the whole story, she was never any danger to her child.

in addition, if she was going to jail, she probably wouldn't be there long. patricks stay in foster care would most likely be brief.

poor patrick! he probably didn't understand why he couldn't be with his mommy. i pray that he did run away and some kind soul will find him. shame on the foster care system and the media for trying to keep this under the radar. every single person in new york should be searching for this precious little boy!
 
blue_the_puppy said:
patrick was taken away from home due to his mother's petty larceny? it seems odd that he would be taken away from home for such a thing (unless mom was going to jail, in which case why would he be trying to run HOME to see her?). it's a crime that needs to be punished, but unless we don't know the whole story, she was never any danger to her child.

in addition, if she was going to jail, she probably wouldn't be there long. patricks stay in foster care would most likely be brief.

poor patrick! he probably didn't understand why he couldn't be with his mommy. i pray that he did run away and some kind soul will find him. shame on the foster care system and the media for trying to keep this under the radar. every single person in new york should be searching for this precious little boy!
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I think the implication was that she was going to jail and there was no immediate family to take care of him. Petty larceny is NOT the sort of thing anyone would lose parental rights over.
 
webrocket said:
I think the implication was that she was going to jail and there was no immediate family to take care of him. Petty larceny is NOT the sort of thing anyone would lose parental rights over.
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I do have to wonder, though, about his mother's aunt who was speaking in today's article. Would she not qualify to take care of Patrick? Was she unable to? Unwilling to? (I'm not saying she has any responsibility here, just trying to figure things out.)
 
Idaho4Groenes said:
I do have to wonder, though, about his mother's aunt who was speaking in today's article. Would she not qualify to take care of Patrick? Was she unable to? Unwilling to? (I'm not saying she has any responsibility here, just trying to figure things out.)
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I don't know the answer to that. Usually the prison system would not care who the child is left with but it is possible that the relatives were not in a position to take the boy in for whatever reason.
 
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