Mom says 3-year-old walked home alone from Hamilton daycare

Yomara Ortiz called the Kinderworld Educare Center in Hamilton and asked the person who answered the phone if she knew where her 3-year-old son was.

But according to NJ.com, the employee told her that she did not know where Dariell Lemos was at that moment. Ortiz told the employee, "He's not there because he's at my house."

The 3-year-old boy, according to his mother, wandered away from the Mercer County daycare center he has attended for 2 years, and walked a block and a half home.

“I just don’t know how he crossed the street and no one noticed,” Ortiz told The Trentonian. “I’m just glad and lucky that he didn’t get hit.”

Ortiz's daughter called and told her that Dariell was standing outside the side door of their home  crying and thought she was joking, according to the Trentonian report.

The school's director reportedly offered an apology when Ortiz called but could not explain why the staff lost track of her son. Ortiz told the Trentonian her son won't be returning to Kinderworld and that she has notified Hamilton Police and the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Hamilton Police Captain James Stevens says no charges have been filed and that his department's juvenile division and Child Protection will meet first to determine a course of action. Stevens is not aware of any previous reported problems with Kinderworld.

According to the website ChildcareCenter.us, which describes itself as "the largest directory for childcare services in the nation," Kinderworld has a capacity of 35 children.

An early morning phone call to the daycare center by New Jersey 101.5 Friday went unanswered.