Avonte Oquendo's Death Inspires New Law

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS -- A bill inspired by Avonte Oquendo, a mute autistic boy found dead after bolting from his Queens school, could soon offer life-saving trackers and support to families caring for someone with special needs.

"Kevin & Avonte's Law" is included in the federal omnibus spending package released Wednesday after being pushed by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) for nearly four years. The bill would launch a program to offer tracking devices to families caring for someone with autism, dementia or other developmental disorders that make them prone to wandering off from their parents or caregivers.

Schumer first introduced the bill after working with the mother of Avonte Oquendo, a 14-year-old boy with autism who bolted from his Long Island City school in October 2013.

Authorities and volunteers searched the city for more than three months before Avonte's remains were found washed up on a Queens beach. Cops later determined he had fallen into the East River and drowned.

Similar circumstances lead to the death of Kevin Curtis Wills, a 9-year-old autistic boy in Iowa.

Schumer contends that, had the boys been wearing trackers, they could very well be alive today. He drafted "Kevin & Avonte's Law" to keep others with special needs from meeting a similar fate.

"Making voluntary tracking devices available to vulnerable children with autism or adults with Alzheimer's who are at risk of wandering will help put countless families at ease," Schumer said.

"After Avonte Oquendo ran away from his school and went missing, I learned just how prevalent wandering is among children with autism and other developmental disorders."

Numbers back his claim.

Nearly half of children with autism have wandered from their parents or caregivers at some point, according to a 2012 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. A recent National Autism Foundation report found nearly one-third of missing person cases of those with autism resulted in death or medical attention between 2011 and 2016.

Schumer's legislation would expand the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program already in place for Alzheimer's and dementia patients to include children with developmental disabilities, renaming it the Missing Americans Alert Program.

The program would offer families and caregivers a tracking device that they and law enforcement could both use to locate loved ones, and provide funds for wandering-prevention training to law enforcement and nonprofits.

The trackers can be worn as wristwatches and anklets, discretely clipped onto belt loops or shoelaces, and even woven into specially designed clothes, Schumer said. When a user of the device goes missing, a caregiver or school official can notify the company, and a trained emergency team will respond to the area.

Schumer added the program would be completely voluntarily for parents and would work with local schools and law enforcement to ensure data from the trackers are kept secure.

His bill would couple the program with funds to raise awareness in communities on how to identify and help someone with a developmental disability who has wandered.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the $1.3 trillion omnibus package on Thursday afternoon, followed by the Senate shortly after.

Lead photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.