5-year-old found wandering on busy street after leaving after-school program unnoticed
Kindergartner found wandering off school grounds
A 5-year-old boy was found wandering along on a busy street in Valencia, California.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - A Valencia family is demanding answers and action after their 5-year-old son slipped away from his after-school program and was found wandering alone on a busy street more than a mile from campus.
Natalie and Brett Epstein say their son, Oliver, went to kindergarten at North Park Elementary the morning of Nov. 4 and was supposed to go to the school’s after-hours program when school ended at 12:20 p.m.
Instead, he somehow ended up alone near a McDonald’s on McBean Parkway — about 1.2 miles away — more than three hours later.
Brett says he received a frantic call from the family’s nanny, Martha, who happened to be driving along McBean Parkway and recognized Oliver on the sidewalk. She quickly picked him up and drove him home while Brett and Natalie tried to figure out what was going on. When Natalie called the supervisor of the after-school program, she was told that Oliver was safely in their care. By that point, he and his nanny were pulling into the family driveway.
"When I got home, of course I was crying … and he just put his head in my lap and started crying, so I know he was probably really scared to be alone," she said.
Sagus Union School District Superintendent Dr. Colleen Hawkins provided the following statement:
"Unfortunately, there was a recent incident involving a student in our after-school program. When District staff was alerted to the situation, an investigation into the incident was immediately conducted after confirming that the child was safe and with their family.
Based on what we learned from this incident, appropriate corrective action has been taken including but not limited to improvements in student supervision protocols and in securing facilities.
We are thankful that the student was safely found as we understand the seriousness of the situation. Further, we regret the concern and frustration this incident caused for the family. As this incident involves both personnel and pupil matters, additional comment cannot be made at this time."
The Epsteins say that response is not enough.
"If it weren’t for our nanny finding him, a police officer would have been at our door telling us our son had been hit by a car," Natalie said.
On Tuesday, Brett addressed the school board, urging tougher safety measures.
"Think about what I’m telling you. Our 5-year-old son crossed busy streets alone. He walked past strangers, any one of whom could have abducted him. He was one distracted driver, one wrong turn and one predator away from a news story that destroys families," he said. "The only reason we are not planning a funeral, or still possibly searching for our missing child tonight, is blind luck, and not because the people we trusted to protect him were doing their job."
The family says they left the meeting feeling unheard. "You kind of feel like you’re talking to robots in a way — they’ve heard this before or some story about it, maybe they’re tired, it’s late, they’re hungry," Brett said. "Well, this is our pain, this is our potential tragedy or as close to it as we came."
Since they came forward with their story, they say they’ve met another family whose son went through something similar at the same school in 2019, which was news to them.
"We had no idea — it guts you when you think about other families who have gone through this. The people that have come out of the woodwork to say this happened to them — a similar situation or a safety problem — it’s a real serious issue," Natalie said.
On Wednesday, Dr. Hawkins announced her retirement from the district, effective July 1, 2026.