Reseda Family Grateful After 18-Year-Old with Autism Found Safe After Three-Day Search

A family from Reseda is feeling a wave of relief following the discovery of their 18-year-old son, Junior Saavedra, who has autism. He had been missing for three days before being found more than 30 miles away from home in East Los Angeles.

Jose Gonzalez, the boyfriend of Saavedra’s mother, shared his concern, noting that while Saavedra is 18, he functions at a much younger cognitive level. Saavedra has very limited verbal communication abilities, which heightened the family’s anxiety about his disappearance.

Fortunately, a post on social media helped track down Saavedra, who was spotted at El Mercadito in East Los Angeles. His family successfully reunited with him, though the details of how he got there remain unclear. Saavedra returned unharmed.

The Los Angeles Unified School District released a statement confirming that the student was safe and thanking the efforts of school staff and local police for their assistance in locating him.