Missing Wildomar Teen With Autism, Schizophrenia Found Safe
WILDOMAR (CBSLA.com) — A missing Riverside County teenager with special needs was found safe Friday.
David Soto, 18, went missing Tuesday around 8:45 a.m. after walking off the Elsinore High School campus at 21800 Canyon Dr., according to officials.
Soto - who has autism, a diminished mental capacity and also suffers from schizophrenia, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Department - was smiling and appeared to be healthy after spending over four days up in the hills of Wildomar.
KCAL9's Tom Wait reports that although Soto had gone missing before, this time was longer than any previous disappearance.
Authorities were concerned because Soto was without food and water and may have run out of his medication.
Soto's mother, Anna Espinosa, was grateful to the public for their help in locating her son.
"There was a person here who saw him and thought that he looked out of place, and he looked kind of frightened," Espinosa said.
Soto was being examined at the Inland Empire Medical Center.
Espinosa told Wait her son seemed to be doing well despite the fact he probably had no food or water for days.
She also told Wait that she is now going to think of ways to keep her son from wandering off in the future.
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