Skip to content
Education
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Philly student with autism has returned home 12 days after going missing from his high school

Kyle Jones, a student with autism, left Kensington CAPA High School on Sept. 28 and was considered a "missing endangered person." He walked into his Port Richmond house early Tuesday.

Kyle Jones, 19, a student at Kensington CAPA High School, went missing on Sept. 28 after he eloped from the school. Kyle has intellectual disabilities and autism and is considered an endangered missing person.
Kyle Jones, 19, a student at Kensington CAPA High School, went missing on Sept. 28 after he eloped from the school. Kyle has intellectual disabilities and autism and is considered an endangered missing person.Read moreCourtesy of Roquel Jones

Kyle Jones, the 19-year-old with autism who ran away from his Philadelphia school and was missing for 12 days, has been found.

Kyle walked into his Port Richmond home early Tuesday morning, his mother, Rocquel Jones, said.

Kyle, who attends Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, walked out of his school Sept. 28. After he had an altercation with another student, Kyle was told by a KCAPA staffer to stay outside an office while the staffer called Kyle’s mother, and Kyle began pacing near a door and walked out. No one tried to stop him.

» READ MORE: A Philly student with autism is missing after running away from school 12 days ago

Jones said she believed Kyle was upset because he thought he was in trouble. He had a history of running away and attempting to run away from school, and she had asked for a one-on-one aide to keep him safe.

Police had labeled Kyle, who has intellectual disabilities, anxiety and a speech disorder, a “missing endangered person.”

Jones said she was resting when she heard a knock at the door. Her sister answered to find Kyle outside.

He appeared physically unharmed, and was not aware of how long he was gone.

This was not Kyle’s first experience going missing. He had been left at the wrong bus stop by his school bus driver in April, and was missing for three days, his mother said; Kyle had been sexually assaulted and locked in a cage.