Mother left ‘shaking’ after daughter, 8, disappeared from school when staff lost track and they were gone for almost 2 hours

A mother has revealed her horror after her eight-year-old daughter disappeared from school for almost two hours.

Terrified, Kily Keeling had no idea her son was missing until she received a call from the school saying police had arrested her.

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The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, mother said she dropped her daughter off at John Glenn Elementary as normal on the morning of Tuesday, April 23.

But that afternoon, she was stunned after the school called to say she had been out with another student and was found by police.

“I got there, my son was in the conference room,” she told NewsNation affiliate KFOR.

“They told me my son left at 12:40 because he saw it on the cameras.”

She added: “I was shaking, I’m still shaking.”

The two children are believed to have gone out during recess and were found about a mile from the school.

She also feels the situation could have been much worse.

“They are very beautiful young women, anyone could have chosen them,” she said.

Keeling added that the girls were “scared” and several people stopped to ask if they were okay.

Although Keeling took responsibility for her son’s departure from campus, she said, “The school needs to take responsibility for the fact that no one was watching them when they left and the gates are open.”

The two girls were missing for an hour and 35 minutes before they were rescued.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Western Heights Public School District, which encompasses John Glenn Elementary, said, “The safety of our students is our highest priority.

“Yesterday afternoon, two John Glenn students left campus without permission.

“The circumstances surrounding his departure are being carefully reviewed and we are committed to improving our supervision protocols to prevent such incidents in the future.”

The statement continued: “While this is an isolated incident, we remain vigilant in our efforts to maintain a safe learning environment.

“Our district continually evaluates and updates security procedures to address any potential vulnerabilities.

“We encourage open dialogue between the school, parents and students to reinforce the importance of adhering to safety protocols at all times.”

Keeling said her daughter told her she had run away to spend time with her friend.

After Tuesday’s incident, Keeling said she enrolled her daughter in a different school the next morning.

She added that she has no plans to return.