Man Who Found Abducted West Phila. Child is Honored By City Council
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City Council today honored the West Philadelphia man who last month found the five-year-old girl who had earlier been abducted from her school.
At the same time, Council plans to hold a hearing to examine the school district's dismissal policy.
Nelson Mandela Myers was praised by councilmembers for finding five-year-old Nai'lla Robinson early on the morning of January 15th and immediately contacting police (see related story).
Then it was time for the soft-spoken Myers to take a turn at the podium:
"I would just like to say thank you, and I really appreciate what you guys did. That day, I just want to say, I was just doing what a good man is supposed to do."
Council also honored the little girl and her family.
Meantime, councilman Curtis Jones is planning a hearing on the school district's policy on children being taken out of school early, a policy that has not been updated in 20 years.
"It just seemed vague to me: who can pick up the child? Is it authorized? Do you have to have picture ID?" Curtis said. "And in the case of religious garb, how do you address that?"
The woman who abducted the girl was captured on camera with her face covered in a traditional Muslim covering (see related story). She is still at large (see related story).
Jones wonders if parents and guardians should be given photo or bar code ID cards, and only those cards would be accepted when a child is given early release.
"There is a policy, but it is vague to me," he said. "So what we want to do is call (district officials) in to see if there are adjustments being made in light of the (abduction) tragedy."
No date yet for the City Council hearing.
