Peabody 5-Year-Old's Missing Wheelchair Found Intact

PEABODY, MA — A Peabody family was thankful to have their son's customized wheelchair back Monday after a harrowing morning search when it was taken from the driveway.

Stephanie DeGennaro took to social media Monday morning asking for help after her 5-year-old son Gabriel's chair went missing from the driveway.

"It is recycle/trash day so unsure if someone came by and thought it was recycling," she posted on a Peabody community page. "It was very clearly in our driveway. We do not have a wheelchair ramp so we carry our son out of the house in the morning and place him in his wheelchair in the driveway to wait for the bus."

"We are heartbroken. Our son cannot walk and the wheelchair allows him to access the world. It is also how he transports to and from school each day."

Stephanie told CBS Boston that Gabriel was born at 25 weeks and weighed just 21 ounces at birth. He has cerebral palsy, a feeding tube and there was an oxygen tank on the back of the wheelchair, making it potentially flammable in the wrong hands.

She told the station that she called the police right away and that the chair was soon found. The station said Lt. Bill Cook located it on the back of a truck of someone who collects scrap metal in the city.

Police told the station it is following up with an investigation to determine whether charges will be filed. They stressed that items on the curb and the side of the road are not the same as those on people's property in their driveways when it comes to their availability.

"Thank you to everyone!!" DeGennaro later posted. "The chair was found!!

"Thank you town of Peabody police and (councilors) and Tom Gould!!!!!!"

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)