THE BRONX (PIX11) — The mother of a 15-year-old boy who went missing Monday on the way to his grandmother’s house blasted a Bronx mom who allegedly let the teen hide out in Castle Hill Houses.
“He was in Castle Hill at this lady’s house,” Korina Gerena, the teen’s mother said. He was with this kid that he went to high school with. I spoke to the mother Tuesday; she was like “No, he’s not here.'”
Gerena said she received help from the advocacy group Hope Alive 845, who tracked the boy’s communications on Snapchat and assisted the frazzled mom with reaching her son just after midnight Friday.
Gerena said the Bronx mom in Castle Hill was aware the 15-year-old was unhappy about a recent move to Pennsylvania with his sister, mom, and Gerena’s boyfriend. But she said it wasn’t the woman’s right to let her child hide out in Castle Hill.
“What if your kid went missing?” Gerena observed. “Do you have any humanity? Call a social worker. Call the cops.”
Gerena had been raising the boy and his younger sister on the Lower East Side, where her son was attending University Neighborhood School until the family moved to Pennsylvania a month ago. They were back in Manhattan for a visit when the 15-year-old failed to turn up at his grandmother’s house, as planned.
The teen is supposed to start 10th grade in Pennsylvania in late August.
“I know I have to treat this very gently right now,” the mother said of communications with her son.
She thanked PIX11 News for publicizing that her son was missing and said she appreciated the emotional support and help provided by Hope Alive 845.
