Avonte Oquendo Search Update: Family Shuts Down RV, Will Move to New Location to Continue Search
- Jessica Michele Herring
- Dec 03, 2013 05:03 PM EST
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The RV that functioned as the command post for missing autistic teen Avonte Oquendo was shut down due to weather last week. The Oquendo family will reportedly move to a new location, according to the Bring Avonte Home Facebook page.
His family previously operated the Avonte Oquendo search headquarters in a black RV and a white trailer on Borden Avenue off of Center Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens.
Volunteers are still being urged to hand out missing person fliers in an effort to locate the missing teen.
Last week, a message was released on the website that read, "If you are traveling for Thanksgiving remember to share Avonte's story and picture in other cities! Post his flyer in travel hubs, train and bus stations, rest stops and gas stations outside of NYC!"
Oquendo's family and volunteers continue to search for Oquendo, the 14-year-old who left his school in Long Island City on Oct. 4. Avonte is severely autistic and nonverbal.
In response to his disappearance, New York City school officials will receive enhanced security training to ensure students do not leave school premises during school hours, ABC Local reports.
Since the search began, police have received hundreds of tips from the public and reviewed hundreds of videos for clues as to where he could be. Last month, a subway rider snapped a photo of a 13-year-old boy who resembled Avonte, but turned out not to be the missing teen. The photo showed a boy who resembles Avonte wearing a beige jacket and green khaki pants. The teen who took the photo asked the boy if he was Avonte, but the boy did not answer.
Although it was not him, the photo renewed some hope that a tip or sighting could eventually lead to the teen's discovery. His family is still hopeful that Avonte can be found alive.
"It's tough, it's just a tough situation right now," Avonte's father Daniel Oquendo said last month. "But we're hoping for the best."
The reward for information leading to his safe return is up to $95,000.
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