INDIANAPOLIS — The Department of Child Services is now investigating after a toddler somehow got out of his Indianapolis daycare.
It's a miracle the 2-year-old boy wasn't hurt when strangers say they saw him standing in the middle of 82nd Street alone.
Timothy and Kenya Anderson received a call from police about their son, TJ, on Friday they will never forget.
"This will always play in our mind, and like every day," Kenya Anderson, TJ's mom, said. "Getting that phone call and that frantic call that something happened to our son, who we just dropped off and said that, 'we love you, see you later.'"
TJ somehow got out of 'Tomorrow's Child Day Care Ministry' on Friday and was found walking in the middle of 82nd Street near Hague Road.
"She says she thought it was a car accident that had happened," Kenya said. "Then, cars were stopping. So that's when she realized somebody had to grab my son and was walking back from out of the street with him back onto the daycare. That's when she realized he was missing."
TJ's parents are now livid and demanding answers from the daycare owner on how this could have happened.
"If he didn't get hurt, then he could've possibly been kidnapped," the Anderson's said. "Or he could've walked to a pond, or a ditch or a dog could've been around, could've mauled him. It could've been 1,000 things that could've happened to our son."
The owner of Tomorrow's Child Day Care Ministry wouldn't answer any of RTV6's questions.
The Department of Child Services is now investigating, as is the Family and Social Services Administration, which is the state childcare licensing agency.
However, because Tomorrow's Child Day Care Ministry does not accept federal vouchers, it doesn't have to follow the same regulations as licensed facilities do.
Registered ministries don't have regulated staff-to-child ratios or other supervision requirements, but simply are inspected for essential health and safety codes.
Records RTV6 found show the state recently inspected the daycare on July 11 and they were cited for half a dozen different health and safety violations.
"It is scary because it's like the same rules that apply for the state should apply for the ministry," the Andersons said. "To me, there shouldn't be any leeway for the ministry because they're a ministry."
