Special-needs teen ditched miles from school
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Editor's Note: Since this story originally aired, the girl has come forward to admit she made it up
MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- A Marysville mother says someone booted her special-needs daughter off the school bus miles away from her school, but she can't figure out which district, driver or bus is involved.
Taylor Adams, a 14-year-old girl with the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, was left at a Marysville intersection at the height of the Friday morning rush hour.
"It's not nice to do that to a kid," Taylor said.
The intersection ended up being about three miles from Taylor's home and four miles from her school.
"I started looking that to see if I was suppose to go that way or this way and then I started walking a little bit over that way," Taylor said.
It's a head scratcher, especially since Taylor caught the school bus like she always does -- in her own driveway. Taylor says when the driver realized she wasn't on his photo roster, he ordered her off the bus.
"He was direct," said Krista Adams, Taylor's mother. " 'You are not supposed to be on this bus, get off,' (with) no instruction on what to do, nothing -- just told her she need to get off the bus."
By chance, her grandfather on his way to a doctor's appointment saw her crying on the side of the road and scooped her up.
"There were frozen tears on her face it was that cold outside -- it was freezing," Krista Adams said. "She was so upset."
They've been trying to find that bus driver ever since, combing through photos of every Marysville School district bus driver. She identified a possible driver, but there are still no answers.
The Marysville School District sent a statement that reads: "We have no buses that could have taken her to where she ended up and have contacted neighboring districts to check for buses...there are none."
Krista Adams says she's not satisfied, "because they don't know who did this."
Taylor says she knows she was on the wrong bus because she didn't recognize any of the students, and her family can't figure out why it stopped at her house and what district it belongs to.
Now Taylor's mom is hoping surveillance video from surrounding businesses will solve the mystery and prevent it from happening again.
MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- A Marysville mother says someone booted her special-needs daughter off the school bus miles away from her school, but she can't figure out which district, driver or bus is involved.
Taylor Adams, a 14-year-old girl with the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, was left at a Marysville intersection at the height of the Friday morning rush hour.
"It's not nice to do that to a kid," Taylor said.
The intersection ended up being about three miles from Taylor's home and four miles from her school.
"I started looking that to see if I was suppose to go that way or this way and then I started walking a little bit over that way," Taylor said.
It's a head scratcher, especially since Taylor caught the school bus like she always does -- in her own driveway. Taylor says when the driver realized she wasn't on his photo roster, he ordered her off the bus.
"He was direct," said Krista Adams, Taylor's mother. " 'You are not supposed to be on this bus, get off,' (with) no instruction on what to do, nothing -- just told her she need to get off the bus."
By chance, her grandfather on his way to a doctor's appointment saw her crying on the side of the road and scooped her up.
"There were frozen tears on her face it was that cold outside -- it was freezing," Krista Adams said. "She was so upset."
They've been trying to find that bus driver ever since, combing through photos of every Marysville School district bus driver. She identified a possible driver, but there are still no answers.
The Marysville School District sent a statement that reads: "We have no buses that could have taken her to where she ended up and have contacted neighboring districts to check for buses...there are none."
Krista Adams says she's not satisfied, "because they don't know who did this."
Taylor says she knows she was on the wrong bus because she didn't recognize any of the students, and her family can't figure out why it stopped at her house and what district it belongs to.
Now Taylor's mom is hoping surveillance video from surrounding businesses will solve the mystery and prevent it from happening again.
I don't know what part the "grandpa" had in all of this, but it seems like he should have just taken her to school. In trouble for missing the bus? I think that's just part of the lie. How, again, did she end up with her grandpa? He just happened to be driving along and saw her on the side of the road. Right. How could the adults in her life concoct such an obvious BS story and think they could get away with it. Shame on them for using this girls disability to further their lies.
@johnbe good giref johnbe what kind of sick comment is that?
Maybe you haven't been paying attention. The girl already admitted to making the story up. Calling her a liar doesn't seem sick to me.
I have been a loyal KOMO 4 news watcher for 25 + years. As soon as I would arrive home from doing my School Bus route in the afternoon and evening I would turn on KOMO News 4 and tune into Mary, Dan, Eric, Molly & Steve. Â After viewing KOMOâs story âSpecial-needs teen ditched miles from schoolâ reported by Michelle Esteban. That aired Monday January 14th 2013. I have concerns about KOMO concern to provide sound and truthful news. This story was so full of holes from the beginning. Â There was obviously no background or any investigative work put into the story. If there had been, a halfway professional news team would have seen right thought it. Instead KOMO made the tabloid decision to throw a group of dedicated hard working professional bus drivers that have no more at heart than to see that children are transported to and from school on time every day and as safely as possible, under the wheels. About 10 minutes of fact-finding work would have gone a long way.
@Bus Driver 1 just cause holes are in story which i like you to point out without going by the latest story that she lied. seriously this has happen before.
 @Bus Driver 1 I feel they should do a follow up to set things straight. They really did an injustice.
Unfortunately, after much time and effort on the part of the Marysville School district transportation department, this young lady admitted today to a school staff member that she made up the story to cover up the fact that she missed her bus yesterday and was scared that she would be in trouble for missing the bus. So many tragedy's in this story including the fact that this could have cost an innocent person their livelyhood. Incredibly grateful that this story turned out the way it did and even more grateful that she is ok and was able to tell someone the truth.
 @bus driver I was wondering if that might have been the case.  Originally, I was thinking that possibly the driver, or the grandpa had something to hide, but after my earlier post, I realized that the girl herself might have been the one with a false story.  She didn't implicate a specific driver, which is good, and I'm glad there was really no harm done here, other than the state of alarm she caused.
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But still, I'm wondering, how did she get to the street corner where her grandfather saw her? Â Is there still a detail missing?
 @bus driver This does not surprise me. Glad nobody was thrown under the bus. I do believe the mother should have thought it through 1st. It was fairly obvious to me once you took the story piece by piece that it could not be true. Poor girl too, to be afraid to be in trouble for missing the bus...
@Thunder @bus driver you people are only actying like that cause you know the ending nothing more nothing else you wouldn't have any facts. though i am having hard time beleveing she lying and how do we know she not lying now?
Hmmmmm After watching that video. I am kinda up in the air about it. If this happened I am shocked, and really spooked by it. I hope that there is video to back this up. I hope that KOMO lets is know if this is a hoax, or what actually becomes of this.
er, lets us know if this is a hoax. LOL!
Not as hoax as far as this is what the student reported however, today she told a staff member at her school that she made this story up to avoid getting in trouble for missing her bus yesterday morning.
The bus driver figured out the girl didn't belong on the bus well after her picked her up? Then I don't know why he stopped for her in the first place. I wonder if anyone else witnessed her getting on that bus. But, I guess all's well that ends well. As fortune would have it, her grandpa just happened to be in the neighborhood and rescued her, at a place the district claims the bus never goes.
I want to know why the mom can't tell us what the driver looks like and what bus number it was, after all she didn't let her special needs daughter go to the end of the driveway and wait alone without watching did she? I have a 14yr old daughter who I still walk to the bus on occasion, the rest of the time another parent walks part of the way with the girls- we adults made the decision to not leave these kids alone until there were at least 3 of them, as for my 8 yr old, well he catches the bus at the end of our driveway with 3 other neighbor kids, there is always at least 1 parent watching and usually 2 of us.Â
When I was in elementary school my neighbor who was deaf and went to another school was accidentally dropped off at my school by a bus driver.  Luckily I was at recess and found her crying outside and was able to take her to the office and explain to the principal who she was and where she lived so they could take her back home.  She was terrified - it is scary when you're not where you're supposed to be and you can't communicate to anyone.  If this did happen I feel very sorry for the poor girl. Â
 @JusticeSeeker I totally agree! It can be very scary for a young person to be where they are unfamiliar. I am equally spooked at the fact that the driver kicked her off when the temps were so cold that the poor girl had frozen tears! I really do hope that they find this driver, and that he is reprimanded!
 @JusticeSeeker So true, poor thing :( Must have been so scared. So glad her Grandpa found her.
This does not jive, at all.
I tend to agree with Laverne Swanson. I think the reason it is hard to make the story mesh with school bus policy and what a school bus driver would do, not only legally, but morally, is because the story is not fully true. She may be mentally disabled, but if you've worked with, known or had mentally disabled kids, they can have the capacity to lie to cover up something they shouldn't have been doing. The whole "mom I'm spending the night as so-and-so's house", then stay out all night scenario.Grandpa found her where she shouldn't be...what could she say?
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The fact that she was only a few miles from homes means that it is very possible she got a ride, or walked there.
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I would be worried about her, but perhaps for other reasons if I were her family.
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If it pans out that a bus driver did actually do this, well, I'll be shocked. But, it may be I suppose. Stranger things may happen.
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Obviously the story as it's told by the mom to KOMO is horrifying. But after reading it numerous times, I just can't not buy it completely.
Oh I am sure the school district has a clue who it was, but they are not about to offer it up. Liability.
 @missyk  It makes no sense that a bus driver would know exactly where to pick up this student in her own driveway, then boot her off the bus in a random area after realizing that she wasn't on his list. Makes no sense.
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Don't believe the crap that KOMO is trying to sell here.Â
@lakeview I agree 100%.
I'm skeptical to say the least. Good luck with the surveillance video. My gut tells me that the mom will discover that even 14 year olds with mental disabilities lie to their parents out of fear of getting in trouble, and KOMO will never do a follow up story about it. Â
 @lakeview What do you think may have really happened?
 @Laverne Swanson I don't know. But here's my first question: Did anyone actually see her get onto a bus in her driveway.Â
 @DT @lakeview Maybe the mom was watching from the window & couldn't tell that it was a different driver, or thought it was a substitute driver (which it very well may have been.)
 @lakeview that's what makes me wonder about the story. If the parent was with her in the driveway, then they would have noticed it was the wrong bus, as usually you have the same driver, etc.  Â
 @lakeview It didn't say in the report. A lot of these comments are negative. Many don't think the story is true. We'll probably never know.  I can see the grandpa coming by. Happened to me more than once. As an older kid if I were skipping school or smoking on the street I would walk a little off my usual route and darn if my dad just happened to see me once or twice. Or someone who knew my family. I don't know after reading these comments. I doubt the "sue the district" theory is spot on though. If the girl is lying and really only about 8 yrs mentally, she will slip up somehow. I would think.
I'm calling Fake on this one, surely a student would have told a teacher or parent that this happened. Also what are the chances that grandpa just came driving on by... Sounds like some parents using their child's disability to file a law suit in the near future. If it is true i do feel for this girl that would be quite scary
Could it have been a substitute driver who didn't know the route?
 @Tattooed_Angel But the school would know who he was and what route he was on.Â
@Laverne Swanson @Tattooed_Angel Unless of course he wasn't on the route where he should have been. In junior high we had a sub bus driver one day who got really really lost, us kids had to direct her back onto the route, when we got home more than 45 mins late parents were frantic. The driver turned off the radio because she was worried about getting into trouble for not taking the right route and no one had any idea where us kids were or if we were ok- of course this was back before cell phones.Â
Why does it sound more realistic that he got bored and tired of waiting and decided to walk. Then got lost and thus frustrated and started crying. Sounds wayyyy more realistic than a driver kicking a student off the bus. Kind of like the balloon boy story the family is just getting their 15 minutes of fame.
Video finally loaded, and wow â as others commented already, mom's and girl's testimony rings very false.
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Not to mention, if it was so "horrific" and "frightening" for her (complete with shaky voice and trembling lip), why let KOMO's exploit team pose her on that same intersection then get far enough away to be out of camera range for the drama shot?
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And what kind of mother tells the world about her special needs 14-year-old daughter with the mind of an 8-year-old, then let KOMO photograph her house AND clearly show the freaking house number in the video, along with their cars in the driveway.Â
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Nice going, KOMO and an appallingly incompetent mom! The only way either of you can possibly look any worse than you do right now is if/when the story comes out with completely different details.Â
 @MargeGunderson Wow, I shoulda had a V-8! Seriously I didn't think of that.
I hope the other students on the bus come forward and tell what happened. If this played out the way it is stated in the article, the driver should be fired.
 @The WA Mama And the clear-headed  The WA Mama remembers to include the IF qualifier.
Something tells me The Wa Mama has some experience raising kids, is wise enough to realize her angels can indeed mess up along the way, and knows how to get at the truth.
(BEFORE screaming for an exploitative so-called news team to put her very vulnerable child at serious risk and cause unnecessary problems for the school district...)
@MargeGunderson Exactly. Kids will say things that are untrue at times (as well as adults) to try to not get into trouble. I don't know what happened, which is why I'm curious to find out if there are any other witnesses because this sounds so bizarre. If the driver really did this, then they should be fired. If the kid lied, then she should be punished.
The statement from the district/school seems to point the finger at the child/mother. That is not very smart of Marysville. I hope the situation is resolved and will not happen again. Scary for a child to be lost.
This driver was rude, and an absolute disgrace to the school district.
I'm sure she had and ID or something on her with information and she I'm sure she was able to talk. Sounds like from this story he barked at her like a dog "GET OFF THIS BUS" Your name is not on my list.
This is how people slip through the cracks and how people get hurt.
I say that if the parents don't know what district this took place in then you go for the entire district.
How could this driver know to go to her driveway for pick up if she wasn't on his list of children to pick up???
Makes no sense!
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@reelin21 I'm sure she made the story up.Thats why it makes no sense
She was picked up in her own driveway. My son is special needs and each driver knows the kids on his roster, especially this far in the school year. My guess, it was a sub that got lost. I don't understand why he didn't just call it in to dispatch and drop her off at the nearest school, at least.
 @kockatoo I walk my special needs son to the end of the driveway every morning.  We live in a cul-de-sac and we still do this.  Something about this just sounds hinky. Â
If this incident played out as described them I hope they find the driver, discipline him and if it's a sub, retrain him. It seems like a veteran driver would know better than to do this.
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This could have been avoided if he had simply checked the photo roster when he stopped at her house. Seeing she was not on the roster, he would have immediately realized his mistake and had her get off the bus. Since he had lapsed on that and driven off, he shouldn't have just dropped her off. If he wasn't sure what to do then he should have contacted dispatch for advice.
 @queenofthenight This actually could have been avoided had the parent been out with the child waiting on the bus.  A special needs student waiting for her bus without a parent.  There in is the major issue.  Now the driver is also at fault.  Regardless of the district, the student should have been returned to the home or dropped of at a school with a school employee to get her to where she should have been.  Failure by all adults involved
 @S4tran I have to agree.
@S4tran @queenofthenight The BIGGEST failure was on the moms part- she should have either been out there herself the whole time or made sure someone else was with the child at all times.Â
Speculation is at an all time high here; but do not hold the bus drivers accountable yet. Â For every 10 GREAT drivers, there is always a bad one, they do exist! Â Just like teachers, cops and the likes of every profession. Â I am looking forward to the "real" story, which we may or may not ever know..just sayin!
Wowwwwwwww
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If this really happened it's terrible...but I have this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that something smells fishy, too.