Brooklyn Boy Rides Rails for 11 Days

Francisco Hernandez is home safe with his family after a subway odyssey that makes his mother cry when she talks about what could have been.

Francisco, who has Asperger's syndrome, spent 11 days riding subways to nowhere. Asperger's is a form of autism. The 8th grader from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, disappeared into the flow of the transit system on Oct. 15. He lived on $10, a jug of water, some chips, and a snack cake.

Francisco's mother, Marisela Garcia, says her son was scared to come home after cutting school. So for 11 days, while his family frantically searched and hung posters in subways, he rode the D, F and 1 trains through four boroughs.

He slept on his backpack. No one reported the disheveled child to authorities. His cell phone couldn't help locate him, because he took out the battery.

Finally, a transit cop who studied one of the fliers recognized Francisco on a subway platform in Coney Island and approached him. Francisco told him who he was, and he was reunited with his family.