A Philadelphia day care is currently under investigation following an incident in which workers lost track of a 6-month-old infant under their care.
The child was ultimately located after hours in the closed facility, discovered only when the father insisted on involving law enforcement and emergency responders
Fortunately, the infant was found asleep and unharmed.
Still, the concerning incident has raised questions about how the child went unnoticed. The father, Cameron Banks, and mother, Jessy Flores, are seeking answers.
The day was different than the last four months in that they had been taking the child to the facility for more reasons than one. It started with great excitement, according to the dad, because it was picture day, and this was his baby girl’s first Valentine’s shoot.
“Today was the day of picture day,” Banks said. “She had on her first Valentine’s Day onesie, her little heart tutu. It was just a relief to see that she was OK.”
But in a split second, things got dark.
The parents came to pick up their baby, Amora, from the New Arisens Childcare Solutions’ Feltonville location in North Philadelphia on Thursday, Feb. 1, around 5:30 p.m. When he arrived at the day care, it was closed for the day, and no one was there, despite the business hours claiming it closes at 6 p.m.
The mother said the couple banged on the door and rang the doorbell, but no one answered.
“Did somebody take her? Did they take her to a police district, or is my baby dead,” he said were the questions he asked, according to CBS News.
The father sprang into action, attempting to call all the numbers associated with the business in an effort to locate her daughter. But all was in vain. No one answered.
“I tried calling multiple different places,” Banks said. “They have another location, and I was getting voicemail. Nobody even knew where she was at.”
Her mother’s intuition told her that her child was still in the center. She called the police, correctly predicting that the baby was in the building. She did not know if the baby was alive and safe.
“Something was telling me that she’s in here, she’s in here,” the dad said.
Police met with the building’s key holder to gain access. However, as they tried to unlock the door, it became jammed. The next resort was to get firefighters, who assisted the operation by cutting through the metal bars protecting the doors of the center. Ultimately, the bars were removed entirely.
“They had to break down the door,” Flores said to NBC News. “Fire department had to break it down, like a machine.”
“Police were able to get into the day care center. It was dark. When they got inside, they found the 6-month-old baby girl in the corner asleep in a car seat,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Banks said that the officers “walked in and out pretty fast.”
“I thought they were coming to tell us bad news,” the dad said. “But then, they actually told us she was inside, and she was OK. Happy. There was a whole bunch of crying. Just happy.”
Police have turned the case over to the Special Victims Unit. They are now questioning Banks and several New Arisens employees.
The mother went with the baby to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for medical evaluation.
In comments about the ordeal, in addition to being grateful that the child is doing fine. The dad told FOX 29, “We thought we were in good hands and to come out to this is heartbreaking.”
