Missing boy with Asperger's syndrome spent 11 days wandering New York subways

CNN reported Wednesday morning that the 13-year-old teenager spent 11 days in October wandering New York's subway system until a police officer recognized him from a missing persons' poster, according to police and the youth's mother.

Francisco Hernandez Jr., who has Asperger's syndrome, disappeared on October 15, after he thought he was in trouble at school, according to his mother, Marsiela Garcia.

Garcia told reporters that she contacted police when her son went missing, but didn't receive much help.

Garcia and her husband took matters into their own hands by posting missing persons' fliers around their neighborhood, public areas and even in the subway.

A transit officer found Francisco in the Coney Island section of New York after seeing the missing persons' fliers. He was returned home unharmed.

Garcia said her son wore the same clothes for 11 days, slept in subway cars and used the bathrooms in stations. He had $11 with him when he disappeared and she said he bought food in subway stations.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was asked about police actions in the case on Tuesday, during a news conference on other, unrelated subjects. He said proper protocol was followed to find the young man.