4-year-old boy wanders from day care unnoticed in Texas City

TEXAS CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas City police say a 4-year-old boy who wandered out of a day care Wednesday was discovered by good Samaritans blocks away.

Julian Moran walked out of the front door of the Step by Step Learning Academy, located in the 700 block of 14th Street North, according to investigators. The boy's parents told Eyewitness News that the owner of the day care said Julian appeared to have left while she was busy relieving a teacher and not staffing the lobby.

Neighbors about a block away first saw the boy and called 911.

Police said they got the call about 13 minutes after the day care realized Julian was gone.

"They didn't supervise him and he just walked right out the door," said father Juan Moran.

Neighbors later told the parents they heard vehicles skidding to a stop to avoid hitting him. They couldn't stop Julian, but apparently followed him until police could arrive.

"It's heartbreaking to think he could have been a victim of somebody in one way or another," said mother Jasmine Moran.

The responding police officer figured out that he actually knew Julian's father from the gym and in passing from work. Juan Moran is a corrections officer at the Galveston County Jail.

The police officer used his connections to contact Juan and told him his son had been found.

"He's a pretty brave little kid you know," said Juan Moran.

The Step by Step Learning Academy refused our repeated requests for comment. Texas child care licensing officials are now investigating.

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