After searching for more than four hours, a missing Omaha 5 year old was found in a school bus.
Police were notified around 5 o'clock Wednesday evening after the little boy did not get off the school bus at his stop. The boy who is a student at Field Club Elementary usually takes the first bus home, but instead took the second bus home today. His family became worried when he did not get off the bus and called police.
A search ensued near the family's home near 47th and Nichols, which included assistance from the Omaha Police helicopter Able 1, which searched for the boy from the sky. Around 9 p.m., the little boy was found inside the bus at a bus garage near 24th & Fowler. Police then brought the boy home for a tearful reunion with his parents.
Some on the OPS board are saying there needs to be some sort of identification process to make sure kids are dropped off at the correct location. Some board members saying more attention should be placed on younger kids because they may not know what stop they need to get off at. Student Transportation of America Operations Manager David Prince says thats why one of their focuses is on the younger students because they can get confused.
OPS released a statement saying "OPS became aware of this situation at approximately 6 p.m. We are relieved that the child was found safe. This was an OPS contracted van. The contractor is ENCAP. We expect our contractor to take appropriate action with the driver involved and to cooperate fully with law enforcement. We will take the appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen again. OPS representatives have been in direct contact with the family. We will continue looking into this situation with the contractor to find out why this student was overlooked."
