Missing Child With Autism Found At Ex-Roche Site: Nutley Police

NUTLEY, NJ — Authorities in Nutley and surrounding towns managed to safely track down a missing 6-year-old girl diagnosed with autism last week, finding the child on the roof of a parking deck at the former Hoffmann-La Roche site.

According to the Nutley Police Department, a motorist reported seeing a young child walking alone on Kingsland Street in their pajamas around 6 a.m. on Aug. 22.

A Nutley police officer searched the area but didn’t find a child who matched the description. After more officers arrived on the scene and began checking door-to-door, police in Clifton got a 911 call about a child in pink pajamas walking barefoot at a construction site on the former Hoffmann-La Roche property on Route 3, which has been redeveloped into an office park and medical school.

After a Nutley officer recalled that a non-verbal child with autism lived nearby, police made contact with the family, who confirmed she was missing, authorities said.

Local police officers and firefighters joined with Essex County Sheriff’s Office K-9 units and the Nutley Volunteer Emergency and Rescue Squad to carry out a search at the construction site. As they canvassed the area on foot, first responders located the uninjured child on the roof of a newly constructed parking deck.

Medical personnel checked the child, then transported her back home, where she was reunited with her parents, Nutley police said.

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