Lakewood Mom Asks for Accountability After 2-Year-Old Daughter Wanders Outside of Rocky River Daycare

Annette Pena Rocky River Daycare

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Nov 26, 09:06 pm

Photo: (Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Rocky River cops were called last Tuesday to The Nest Schools in Rocky River on Hilliard Blvd. after a woman alerted them to two toddlers wandering in the street.

One of the toddlers who managed to get out of the daycare was Annette Pena's two-year-old daughter Ellie. Pena, a mom to three sweet, energetic, little girls is still in shock over the incident. Ellie is her youngest child and she has been taking her and her sister to The Nest for about a year now.

She said that daycare is extremely important and they love it. She added that she thinks it is good to socialize them. Pena got a call she never expected, though, from a daycare worker last Tuesday. The daycare worker told her that Ellie and another two-year-old boy got outside of the facility.

Woman spotted two toddlers outside daycare facility on November 15

She was shocked to say the least with Pena asking the worker how did this happen and how long were they outside? She wanted to know everything about the incident, even asking the caller if they are really telling the truth?

According to a report from the Rocky River Police, a woman spotted the two toddlers outside the facility a little before 4 p.m. on November 15. She brought the two kids back inside. Police officers then learned the two children managed to get out of the facility from a back door due to the oversight of a cook who was working there, according to News 19.

The officers made sure the doors in the daycare facility were secure before they left. According to Pena, she was not called about the incident until after the cops left and that the daycare downplayed the entire situation. She took to social media platform Facebook to ask if anyone knew the woman who saved the two toddlers, including her baby girl.

Toddlers were dangerously close to crossing busy intersection

She said that she wanted to thank the lady that saved her daughter and made her go back inside and sure she was safe. She added that she also wanted to figure out what happened. The woman told Pena she was driving when her 9-year-old daughter saw the two toddlers dangerously close to crossing Wooster Road.

She told Pena that another woman pulled over around the same time as her and grabbed the hand of the little boy. She then grabbed Ellie's hand and they took the toddlers back to safety.

Pena said that intersection is crazy busy and it makes her sick because if it was not for her, who knows where her daughter would be right now. She added that it was cold outside and they could have got hit. Pena told News 5 she is not sure if she will ever be able to trust a caregiver again.