A Los Angeles County couple is demanding answers after their 5-year-old son managed to walk away unnoticed from his after-school program – and was later discovered alone near a busy California highway nearly a mile away.
Natalie and Brett Epstein’s son, Oliver, attends kindergarten and an after-school program at North Park Elementary School in Valencia. But on November 4, the child somehow slipped out of the building and away from school grounds without anyone noticing.
Instead, he ended up alone near a McDonald’s on McBean Parkway, about 1.2 miles away, more than three hours later. It was the family’s nanny who spotted the boy alone along the stretch of highway where cars fly by and called the father.
Brett Epstein told The Santa Clarita Valley Signal that he received a frantic call from the nanny, Martha, who recognized Oliver on the sidewalk. She picked him up and drove him home while the parents scrambled to understand what happened.
“It’s really bad between Copperhill and McBean,” his mother Natalie told KTLA. “The cars are racing by. When he was found, he was crying. It’s heartbreaking as a mother.” “I feel like I wasn’t there to protect him,” she added.
Natalie added that, when she called the after-school program, she was told Oliver was safely on campus – even as the boy was pulling into the family’s driveway with the nanny.
“It took us to find our son on the street,” Natalie said. “To call them and have them tell us, ‘Oh he’s here.’”
Saugus Union School District Superintendent Dr. Colleen Hawkins issued a statement acknowledging the incident, according to FOX11.
“Unfortunately, there was a recent incident involving a student in our after-school program. When District staff was alerted to the situation, an investigation into the incident was immediately conducted after confirming that the child was safe and with their family,” they told the outlet.
“Based on what we learned from this incident, appropriate corrective action has been taken including but not limited to improvements in student supervision protocols and in securing facilities,” she added.
The school added that “as this incident involves both personnel and pupil matters, additional comment cannot be made at this time.”
But the boy’s parents say that response falls short.
“If it weren’t for our nanny finding him, a police officer would have been at our door telling us our son had been hit by a car,” Natalie said.
Oliver still attends the same school, but he was removed from the after-school program and his parents are now pushing for major safety changes.
“There are so many obvious things that have to be done,” Brett said. “They know what has to be done and for whatever reason, they haven’t been done. It was proven by this breach that happened with our 5-year-old out on the streets alone.”
On Tuesday, Brett addressed the school board, urging immediate changes.
“Think about what I’m telling you. Our 5-year-old son crossed busy streets alone. He walked past strangers, any one of whom could have abducted him,” he said.
“He was one distracted driver, one wrong turn and one predator away from a news story that destroys families. The only reason we are not planning a funeral, or still possibly searching for our missing child tonight, is blind luck, and not because the people we trusted to protect him were doing their job.”
On Wednesday, Dr. Hawkins announced her retirement from the district, effective July 1, 2026.
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