6-Year-Old Walks 4 Miles Home Alone In Harwich

HARWICH (AP) -- Parents in Harwich want to know how their first-grader left school last week and walked four miles home without anyone noticing he was missing for more than two hours.

The 6-year-old boy's mother tells the Cape Cod Times her son got off his bus at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 14, walked through the building and out the back door.

She says he walked through back yards and woods to comply with instructions to avoid busy streets and strangers.

The boy was found outside his home nearly 2 1/2 hours later by a school bus mechanic, 40 minutes after the search started.

His parents want to know why it took two hours for the school to notice their son was missing.

Superintendent Carolyn Cragin says attendance checks were delayed that day by a playground injury.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)