A non-verbal autistic boy from Texas who went missing for hours in New York City was found after he trekked four miles all by himself to get a glimpse of the Empire State Building. 

Seven-year-old Ruwaid Karim walked out of Dera Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens around 11.45am Friday while he was having breakfast with his mother Farjana Akond. 

'I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, and just in two minutes, I see he disappeared,' Akond told Daily News. 'He's never been out on the street, so I was very worried.' 

She quickly reported him missing as the NYPD posted several images of him to social media, including him in the restaurant just before he walked out. 

Police were later notified after a Good Samaritan noticed the little boy walking along E. 61st Street in Manhattan - 4.2 miles from where he started. 

Just as he was walking out into traffic, the woman darted after him and brought him to safety before calling 911. 

'On 58th, he went across the crosswalk when it was still red, and there were cars coming,' she said at a press conference. 

She said Karim, who has an obsession with nyc black car landmarks, then ran into 57th Street  and got honked at by several cars coming in different directions before she grabbed him.  

'There were two different cars going each way that stopped and they were honking their horns, and he just kept going, and I was trying to get him but I didn't want to get hit either, so he was a little more of a hero than I was running into the middle of the street,' she explained. 




Seven-year-old Ruwaid Karim (middle) walked out of Dera Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens around 11.45am Friday and trekked nearly 4 miles so he could see the Empire State Building. The mother and son are pictured here with the woman who ran into traffic to save him, along with officers who assisted  





His mother quickly reported him missing as the NYPD posted several images of him to social media, nyc black car including him in the restaurant just before he walked out (pictured)

Once officers arrived at the scene, they quickly identified him as the missing boy and reunited him with his mother and sister. 

They then determined that he managed to take the bustling subway train to Manhattan to get to his final destination, Akond said. 

'[The police said] there's no other options. To get there, he had to take the train,' she said. 

'Even on the cameras, they notice that he went down the subway,' she said, adding that she experienced a 'horrible three hours' while he was away. 

'The only thing that was coming to my mind was what could happen while crossing the streets? He's never been in the bus or train by himself. I was thinking all the bad stuff. It was tough.' 

Akond said they have visited the busy city in the past but never got a chance to see the iconic skyscraper in person. 

'We are just here for to visit the New York landmarks. He's very interested in landmarks,' she said. 

'[He wants to see] the Empire State Building and 1 World Trade Center. He wants to visit the [site of the] Avengers Tower.' 




Once officers arrived at the scene, they quickly identified him as the missing boy and reunited him with his mother and sister (pictured)





His mother said he's already ready for his next trip, and tends to plan ahead of time to know exactly how to get there

After the frightening encounter, Akond expressed how grateful she was that her lost son was returned to her. 

'He was very, very close [to getting there]. I never thought he could do that,' she told the outlet. 

Karim was just 1.8 miles, or a 41 minutes walk away, from the Empire State Building. 

Akond said he was OK after the scare and acted 'like there's nothing to worry about.' 

On Saturday morning Karim was seen smiling alongside his mother, the woman who saved him and two NYPD officers as he held a figurine of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in his hands, along with an NYPD patch. 

His mother said he's already ready for his next trip, and tends to plan ahead of time to know exactly how to get there. 

'He has a very good photographic memory of the maps,' she said. 'So whenever he is with a device, he loves to browse the maps. He wants to see how to get there.' 

It is unclear of Karim finally got to see the Empire State Building.  


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