UPDATE: Police say they found Nashaly Perez-Rodriguez Thursday morning around 7 a.m. unharmed and with a friend. She has been reunited with her family.
Previously
The parents of a special needs student are asking for the public's help in searching for their missing teenage girl.
Police say Nashaly Perez-Rodriguez, who lives in Coney Island, was last seen Monday around 1 p.m. leaving Lillian L. Rashkis High School in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The 15-year-old's mother, Sandra Rodriguez, said her daughter has psychological problems and is supposed to have a full-time escort at school.
Nashaly's disappearance comes less than a year after autistic teenager Avonte Oquendo walked out of his school in Long Island City and disappeared. His remains were found months later on a beach by College Point. The lawyer for Oquendo, David Perecman, is also representing the Rodriguez family.
"That's what they're supposed to do, not let her out of their sight — certainly not leave the school building." Perecman said of the staff at Lillian L. Rashkis. "This is not a child who can be left alone. She's not responsible for her own needs, her own wants. She doesn't understand the world."
Sandra Rodriguez said her daughter usually takes a supervised bus ride to their home in Coney Island, Brooklyn, but on Monday Rodriguez had a doctor's appointment and went to pick up Nashaly from school because she wouldn't be at home when her daughter arrived via the school bus later in the day. By chance, she encountered her daughter's bilingual escort, who informed her Nashaly had been missing for roughly an hour. Rodriguez said the school had never contacted her about her daughter's disappearance. School officials told Rodriguez cameras captured her daughter sneaking out an unmanned backdoor in the facility.
The teen's stepfather, William Brewley, who said the girl has a history of mental illness and has never been in public without supervision, said he expected a level of responsibility from the school equal to his own. "I just want to call all communities in New York City that have their kids in school, we have to unite," Brewley said. "We have to make this a better place for our students. This thing can not keep happening again."
In a statement, Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said she is "deeply concerned" over the disappearance, and the school is working with the NYPD to investigate the matter. The school's principal has been re-assigned.