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School Bus Driver Finds Toddler Wandering Alone In Highway
September 14, 2011
An Escambia County School District bus driver found a two-year old child wandering alone in the middle of a highway this morning in Walnut Hill. The child was not harmed.
Bus driver Tonia Allen found the child “on the yellow line” near the intersection of South Highway 99 and Morgan Road about 8:20 a.m.
“She was there in the middle road with two dogs,” Allen said. “I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, that’s a baby’.”
Allen alerted the school district’s bus dispatch and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. She kept the child on the bus until deputies arrived, and they determined that the toddler had wandered out of a residence in the 1500 block of South Highway 99 — which is where she was found.
Allen said she sounded the bus horn multiple times in an attempt to get the attention of the people inside the house with no response.
“Anything could have happened in that highway,” she said. “I was scared. I just have a heart for babies.”
After law enforcement knocked at the door of the residence about an hour later, the mother retrieved the child from the bus and said she did not know how her front door became unlocked.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has referred the case to the Department of Children and Families for investigation.
Pictured top: Bus driver Tonia Allen found this little girl wandering alone in South Highway 99 near Walnut Hill Wednesday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
58 Responses to “School Bus Driver Finds Toddler Wandering Alone In Highway”
So glad the baby is okay! God was certainly watching out. Thank you Tonia for having such a caring heart! Now on the mother’s defense, Seek First To Understand! NONE of us know what was going on – therefore we should not comment. My toddler was holding my hand in a store and I dropped her hand for a small second to get something off of the shelf and she was gone within a matter of seconds. They locked down the store and an associate kept her safe for me. It took about 15 minutes to find her. Thank God no one judged me unknowingly. Now TO the mother, just please be extra careful especially knowing you have a toddler.
But an hour???? What was the momma doing??? Sleeping? I have 4 of my own that are in their teens now, I could not imagine not knowing where they were for a whole hour. Even as old as they are, they have to check in while playing outside. Glad she was reported and not taken, but folks, check on your children!
We have super-bus drivers! AWESOME JOB!!!!!!!
Brayla im so glad ur ok and this wonderful lady was at the rite place at the rite time.mom n dad yall r great parents and dont worrie about all the negative comments people r sayn.everyone that knows yall knows that yall would never put this baby in harms way.i love you and im glad ur ok:)
To Mom – Accidents happen. You’re not alone. I have one just like her! haha Escaped from her Nana’s house at 18 months old, neighbor’s found her and called the police. Nana raised 5 of her own and my little one was Grandbaby #9…and the first one to EVER escape! And as far as those little door handle covers go…I had them on all my doors and between her and her older brother, they learned when she was 2.5 years old that if you hit it in the middle with the palm of your hand, it pops apart, leaving it worthless.
The ONLY thing that has worked is a little slider lock about 3 inches down from the top of the door. I can barely reach it myself!
I’m glad she is safe, good luck to you all, she will certainly keep you on your toes!
They are wonderful parents and accidents happen! I have a child and trust me if your a parent you know that accidents happen! I’m happy brayla is ok and to mom n dad don’t listen to all this negative mess!!!
We love our Brayla!!!
Didn’t any of you ever see the one and half year olds on the funniest people show
where they were twins and one laid down on the floor and the other steped
on top of him and turned the door handle.
Kids are SMART, QUICK and NEVER SEEM TO SLEEP, while parents of
little ones are always to pooped to pop. lol
I don’t believe this was anything but an accident that probably WILL NEVER
HAPPEN AGAIN.
The Baby is SAFE and THAT is the important thing here.
ALMOST accidents with kids happen EVERY SINGLE DAY.
it only takes a second for a young child to “get away” from a parents sights. ive turned around to pick up a spilled cup and zoom “child gone” its a scary thing for a parent . maybe the mom thought she was safe in the house. did you wonder how only children can get off the childproof pill bottle caps? it was a lucky thing that she was found so quickly and safely. that mom must have been so scared
Brayla, what a pretty name..Im just glad the story has a beautiful ending..I think this is where it should end..It hurts me to hear some people say certain things to Brayla”s parents.I can look at the baby an say right away she is loved and well cared for.”;They just under estimated little miss smarty pants”..lol..i can laugh now because the story has a happy ending..Brayla lives in a well kept home,she has 2 very” well cared for” smart dogs, that love her.She has a big wooden swing set behind her home.SHE IS LOVED.She just decided to get up early that morning and do her own thing..My parents lost me when i was Brayla”s age.they ran around crazy and worried for 2 hours before finding me under a couch .They were looking for me outside(..I have the most wonderful parents in the world).So see it can happen!…To Brayla”s parents,,just love your little baby and hold her tight,everyone has opinions,but what matters most is the fact that she loves you,i could tell that when mom came out ..she stared pointing saying mommy,mommy,mommy..until then she didnt say much…Now she has her own story to tell when she is older.Just like i do!! Hugs n kisses to Brayla!!
I really appreciate the comments of momof3– I haven’t figured out yet how stories like this bring out so many who immediately judge and condemn. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, “I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,” said cunning old Fury, “I’ll try the whole cause and condemn you to death.” I know we have freedom of speech, a precious liberty, but shouldn’t there also be the law of kindness? It seems like a good rule of thumb would be: Don’t post any comment that you wouldn’t feel good about saying to the person’s face. The little sweetheart is adorable and I’m so happy that she is safe.
Brayla is my greatgranddaugher . I want to thank tonia for her care for brayla . Her mother and father are great parents don”t judge them it can happen to any parent. and most of all the good lord. love you . granny bonnie
Thank God the baby is okay. I’d have to say pure neglegence on the parents part. I’ve a two and three year old and they both are very capable of unlocking the deadbolt and opening the door. You’ve gotta pay attention. What if that baby had of been inside in the bathtub while you weren’t watching? This makes me just sick to my stomach. I’m not a perfect parent and noone is. But goodness gracious you’ve got to be thinking about you childrens safety and all times, and know where they are at all time and what they are doing. You would never have been able to forgive yourself had your daughter been hit by a vehicle or attacked by a dog, or abducted due to your neglegence. Thank God for angels here on earth watching out for us. You need to stop defending yourself and making excuses and Thank the good lord above for a second chance, and not mess it up again. They make little alarms that you can put on cabinets and door. They are cheap at walmart and they make a loud noise if the door is opened. My worse fear is for one of my sweet babies to wake up in the middle of the night and be out on the middle of 31. But we are parent and we are here to protect our children!!!!! How could you not have noticed she was missing? AN HOUR LATER???????
This has happened to me before and I know others it has happened to
It will be ok Im just so glad everything was ok. Also these dogs are great they love their baby you don’t see pets like that as much as used to.
This could happen to the most alert parents. Children can be in one spot and gone to another in the blink of an eye. In this case, that little girl looks healthy and well cared for, and I don’t for one minute think that child’s mother was/is a bad mom. One of our children was so active and unafraid as a child that when we went to the beach, I had to tie a rope around his waist and mine to keep him from harm. When we put locks on the doors out of his reach, he simply dragged a chair over to reach the lock. Thank the Good Lord and The Powers That Be that we all lived thru those active years. When I see stories like this, I am thankful that there are people out there like this bus driver who cared enough to stop and investigate.
To Mom—hang in there. I recall we had a neighbor who was protective of her three boys. One day she could not find the youngest one and the search was on. Every one in the neighbors were out looking. He was at last found safe—under a bed in the house where he had gone to sleep. He said it was “his cave to hid in”. Some times kids will do things that you can’t guess they can do. So again—hang in there and just love your little girl and thank the driver for being the great person she is.
Mom of Brayla. My little boy got out of our house after we installed a chain lock at the top of the storm door to keep them from sleep walking out the front. He was only 2 and pulled the stool up to the door took the chain off and opened the door. Thank goodness it was in the morning and I was just in the back of the house. Things happen. Important thing is you installed safety locks and thanks to Mrs. Tonia and your faithful dogs, she is safe and sound. You can not listen to the ramblings of those that act like they have never had an incident with their own children. Children are very smart and very unpredictable.
To Mom,
Children have a sneaky way of growing up overnight. I have no reason to not believe that your a good Mom. Children all of a sudden can do things they couldn’t/wouldn’t do a day or two before. Getting child proof locks was a great idea. We have child proof locks on everything around here just for this simple reason. Don’t worry what others have to say, you just focus on your little girl. Hope this makes you feel better!!
Happy the baby is ok!!! Thank god the bus driver seen her people drive way to fast on that road she was very blessed! I hate the dad was sleeping but children can wonder!id be one mad momma if my husband did that! Hope they don’t get in to much trouble for this.
im sooooo glad that baby is safe…all the thanx goes to God…after he sent the bus driver to save her….
And for the people thats running your mouth bad about me there is no reason for that and first of all I didnt think in a million yrs this would happen and didnt think she could twist adoor knob but dont be putting me down because I know take care of my kids so if u got something bad to say dnt say it at all because yall dnt know the whole story but once again thank you ms. tonia for everything…ur our hero and you will always be remember
i wanted to start of saying I really appreciate you ms. tonya for saving my precious baby life. If it was for you god knows what would happen..but everything is ok and I got safety locks so she wont ever do this again but yes god sent ms.tonya as a angel to to save my baby life.. But I just dnt want people to think im a bad mom because this has happen because im not. This was a scary n freak out accident but yes she has showed me now she is capable of doing big girls stuff but it sad it had to be in the case cuz It was like me waking up to a scary nightmare but I promise this will NEVER happen again.. To ms. tonya thank u sooo much I appreciate what u did n I will give her a hug for u… U are a HERO to brayla n for me
that just makes me sick and sad i was on the bus when i herd what had happened over the radio everyone was soo shocked poor baby girl
My heart grew a little bit bigger today.Little baby i still dont know your name,but you now have a place in my heart.Shine on this world LiL Miss Brown Eyes..Im so happy you were ok..To the parents i wanna say,you have a precious baby girl.I think she is gonna make her mark in this world.She is not scared,she walked down that road like she owned it..Toddlers are very unpredictable,im glad to have been there for your sweet baby until i could figure out where she belonged. Dont feel bad its all gonna be ok..this happens ,they have their own little minds..I think she wanted to play with her dogs..By the way,the dogs are the heros here they never left her side.Every step she took,.they took..blocking her in the middle of them.They were doing everything they could to protect her..They love her.”.Sweet dog guardian angels”.Im happy to have been able to be there for her and the family..Give her a hug for me. Lessons learned in life are well worth it..She is worth it. Thus why they call them lessons.. Now she has showed you she can do things by herself..lol..She thinks she’s a big girl now..Precious lil thing! Its all good..She is safe and no harm done!
There never seems to be a dull moment on the bus 2 of boys ride on. Miss Allen sure is a good driver. This and the accident the other Friday. She must have nerves of steel.
Sometimes they wander into the street…and, sometimes they wander into the swimming pool. Lord please help the little children.
THANK GOD FOR SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS!!!!!!!! This has happened many many times. We are always looking out for things like this. We are not just school bus drivers. I guess you could say we are guardian angles too. I drove a school bus for 44 yrs and this is just what we do. Thank you Tonya for a job well done.
Great job NANA ! Glad you saw that little girl and everythings ok ! I LOVE YOU < 3
I’m so thankful the darling little girl is okay. I’m sure her home will be locked up like Fort Knox from now on. This kind of thing can happen to the best of parents (especially with a curious child). I hope that her parents realize that and that they don’t hold on to guilt over it.
By all means, notify DHR, CFS, and the like. Afterall, how many hundreds of
children have they lost in the system. Once they are involved,you can hardly get rid of them. An officer of these fine government programs told me not to anger
him as all it would take to lose my children would be his signature on court papers. We carried our 6 week old son to the doctor and a hairline skull fracture was found. These people were called in and the three ring circus began. It was determined the fracture occured in childbirth.
Point is all people make mistakes. Nobody is a perfect parent. Learn from this
experence and thank the one in control that was protecting this child. IOcculades to the observant bus driver as well!
Great job NANA ! Good thing you saw the little girl . I love you !
So glad she was found safe! As a mother of four I can tell you this kind of thing happens. I never had a problem with any of my kids wandering anywhere or going outside until my fourth. I now have a slide latch on the doors out of his reach. This kind of thing happens, lets just be glad that bus driver was there when she was.
My mom tells the story of how I climbed the back fence and walked the neighborhood at about this little one’s age.
One time is an accident, 2x is neglect.
Thank God for diligent drivers like Ms. Allen
Hey Tonia, what a great thing you did this morning. I know how you love children and this just shows how much. God Bless you girl
I’m a mom of 4…The CFS have to investigate the inncident..& YES YES the bus driver is an Angel…I can count the times 1 of my kids figured out a NEW way to unlock doors & went outside..& yes I was sleeping…moms do that when the kids are sleeping..some1 is always the 1st to wake up & a lot of times it’s the kids…There are mentions of “child proofing”…24 yrs ago they did not have those things you put over the doorknobs…we learn from our mistakes…Yes it would be awful if something happened to the child…in this case Thk god nothing happened…
Thank God Tonia Allen was there. Divine appointment, most definitely. To the mom — mistakes happen. You were blessed with this gift of a bus driver at the right place and time. Don’t put yourself down for this, OK? Just live and learn, forgive yourself and the others who seem to be determined to kick you just when you stumble.
What was this mother doing while her child was wandering the streets?
Good Job Tonia!
You serve a raise…
I am laughing at some of the judgemental statements from some of you…you obviously did not have children as independent as mine. There isn’t a child lock made that my kids couldn’t figure out if they thought they “needed” to get past it.
Did you NEVER fall asleep when watching your kids when they were small because you were exhausted and then wake up freaking out because you dozed off? Did you NEVER have a small child come and wake you up when you thought they were asleep in their bed, etc?
Did you NEVER have another child who could not remember to close/lock doors etc? Did you check the door EVERY time somebody else went out? Heck, My teenagers can’t remember to close a door all of the way now – so I must have failed.
But it certainly isn’t funny that the child was in the street or that the State is involved.
I can’t believe how quick to judged some people are. You never know what has happened but go ahead and chunk rocks at folks. Just be very thankful to our God in Heaven that this sweet child is safe and sound. I am so glad that this world is full of perfect folks. I hope that nothing like this ever happens to you. Judge lest you be judged. God sends people in our lives for a reason and I know he placed the school bus driver in the right place at the right time.
This is my little niece and her parents are great parents. Accidents happen and this is very scarey for all of us and we thank the good lord up above that nothing happened. We would like to thank the bus driver who found her. I was going to stop by there this morning on my way to work but didn’t. Now i wish i would’ve. Thank you Jesus for being with her and the family. Please people don’t get on here writing bad comments because the situation was not purposely and her parents are very great parents. And wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Little girl was lucky, she could have just as easily been found by a predator or some other creep.
God puts the right people in the right place at the right time. Thank heavens!!!
Angels sometimes drive school buses!!!
Great job Tonia,,, but i think someone should check on the mother,,, a hour later she comes to the door,,, she had to be asleep or something else,,,my son is 15 and i know when he goes out the door and where he is going,,,,,
Ummm….no excuses…they make door knob covers and they are VERY inexpensive! I have them on my doors…if I didn’t, mine would go outside all of the time…not a mistake you can afford to make…
Thank the Lord Jesus this baby is safe! I hope it is clear to those who have toddlers: do whatever it takes to childproof your doors! Also, keep both eyes on those babies at all times.
As a mother of 3 under the age of 5, it always saddened me to hear all the harsh comments against parents in situations like this. There could be a number of things that happened here. The little girl maybe tried unlocking it for the first time and the mother didn’t realize she could reach it. It was left unlocked ACCIDENTALLY. The mother was loading the washer which could cover up the sounds of a bus horn. She thought the baby was asleep and tried to sneak a shower in. Who knows? I’m sure no other parent out there never let their child out of their sight for one moment. I sure hope if this baby is in a good situation that DCF will leave them alone! Accidents happen….thank God this one has a happy ending!
Thank God the little girl is safe. I hope the parents will put in some new door locks that the child can’t reach. Mrs. Tonia I am so glad the good Lord sent you alng to rescue her.
WOW! Way to go SIS….There is know telling what would have happen to this little girl if you had not been in the right place at the right time. That goes to show that GOD does send ANGEL’S when they are needed(:
Tonia is my sister and she is one of my most favorite people in the world. She has the the heart to help anyone in need. This family is lucky that she was there for there little girl!!
Thank God for the busdriver. You did a wonderful thing.
goodlooking out mrs.tonia! Shame on this mother! you have children look out for them! …goodness!
Thank you God and thank you Tonia that this baby is O.K.
Way to Go Tonia. Lord only knows what would have happened to that baby if u hadnt seen her and stopped. I wonder how many people drove by and didnt see her. So Gald that she didnt get hit by a car.
Just goes to show what a great person/busdriver can do!!!!
Wow!!!! So happy you were there Tonia-I know what kind of heart you have my friend!! Just thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened makes me sick to my stomach. What a blessing you are-these parents didn’t have to experience the nightmare of losing a child because they turned their back on this toddler-even if it was just for a second . . . . .sometimes that’s all it takes.
Good job Tonia!!! You saved that lil girl. Something bad could have happened if you were not there. The Allen Family are good people. I have known them for years. Just like her to step up and help a child. As for the parents of the child. Got nothing good to say. So ill keep my mouth shut.
I’m sorry….but I’ve raised 4 children to adulthood and as far as I’m concerned, that is not an acceptable excuse. Shame on the mother for not having a lock high up so only adults can access it and thank you Jesus for all the angels protecting this little one.
You have got to love a happy ending…….hoping the caretakers toddler proof their doors.
Michael for a happy day in Walnut Hill.
WOW! God does send angel’s! So thankful this bus driver was at the right place at the right time.
I’m shocked the mother or no one else came out to the honking bus… Are people that self absorbed? My bet is the mother was still asleep… and who in their right mind sleeps while their baby is walking around the house, let alone go outside!
To the mother… they make alarms that go under the mattress of a child’s bed, that will alert you when they get out of bed… maybe you need to invest in one.