Autistic teen found wandering in dark

It isn't clear how Cory Daves, 14, got out of his care facility.

By CASEY CORA, Times Staff Writer
Published September 7, 2007

TAMPA - Wearing only boxer shorts and clutching snacks, Cory Daves was spotted by a sheriff's deputy walking alone in the lanes of Fowler Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

After nearly four hours of searching for his guardians, Daves, who is 14 and autistic, was returned to his caretakers at a residential care facility at 2307 Colby Lane.

Authorities said Cory's disability - severe autism with limited communication skills - made communication with the boy difficult. Investigators tried sign language. At one point, they tried speaking Spanish.

"As a wild shot in the dark, we put the child in the back of the car hoping the child would point out something," said Sgt. Jimmy Meier of Tampa police. "We were rolling the dice here."

Police said someone from the licensed home called police and reported the boy missing early Thursday.

A caretaker at the home declined to comment, but JoAnne Daves, Cory's mother, told reporters she trusts the care of home owners Jamaal and Nicolia Barnett.

"I feel he is in a very, very safe environment here," she said. "I love my son tremendously, and these people love my son."

Ms. Daves said Cory has a reputation for rambunctiousness, and this wasn't the first time he has tried to run from home.

"He's tried to get out of a window before, not here, at another place, and they were not able to put lock on the windows because of fire safety code," she said.

When asked how Cory got out of the house in the morning, she didn't elaborate but said it was a "very horrible mistake."

Johanna Molina, a neighbor, said Nicolia Barnett is attentive to both disabled children living inside the one-story home.

"I know she does the job great," Molina said. "Always playing with them."

Melanie Etters, a spokeswoman for the state's Agency for Persons with Disabilities, said the facility's license, which was received this year, was valid with no complaints.

As for Cory, a student at Tampa's Caminiti Exceptional Child Center, Molina said he is always excitable, even when the bus arrives at 8:20 daily for his morning pickup.

"The school bus comes and he run, run, run like crazy," she said.

JoAnne Daves hopes the incident helps to increase public awareness for similar cases when disabled and the elderly disappear.

"We need to come up with something as a community so that the public is aware and this won't frighten them and there's a system in place where we can help them get back where they need to be."

For now, though, she said she's happy Cory is safe again. He was frightened this morning, but "happy as pie" to go home.

"Cory isn't a sleeper," she said. "Never has been."

Casey Cora can be reached 813 226-3386 or at ccora@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 6, 2007, 22:45:02]