An 18-year-old Reseda man with the mental capacity of a 4-year-old has been missing since Friday morning, last seen walking away from the 19000 block of Gault Street just before noon. Junior Saavedra, who is diagnosed with autism, has had no contact with his family since he vanished, and loved ones are growing increasingly worried about his safety.
Police said Saavedra was last seen around 11:50 a.m. Friday, according to KTLA. The address where he was last seen corresponds to the campus of Diane S. Leichman Career Preparatory and Transition Center, an LAUSD special education high school serving students with disabilities in grades 11 and 12, indicating Saavedra walked away from school grounds during the school day. The LAPD is asking the public for help locating him.
Family Describes a Teen Who Communicates Without Words
Saavedra is described as an 18-year-old Hispanic male with black hair and brown eyes, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds, the same KTLA report states. Police have not provided further details about how or why he left campus, or where he may have gone. His physical description could help bystanders recognize him if spotted.
His family has had no contact with him since he disappeared, police said, and they remain deeply concerned for his safety. Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800, or to contact L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-222-8477.
Wandering Is a Common and Dangerous Risk for Autistic Youth
Saavedra's case touches on a well-documented pattern among autistic children and young adults. A study published in Pediatrics by the Interactive Autism Network, highlighted by the National Autism Association, found that 49 percent of children and youth with autism attempt to wander or elope from a safe environment after age 4, with nearly one-third of those incidents starting directly from a school setting. The same research compiled by the association notes that accidental drowning accounts for over 70 percent of wandering-related fatalities among people with autism, which is why law enforcement protocols typically call for immediate searches of nearby pools, ponds, and drainage basins in these cases.
California law offers specific tools for cases like this one. Under Government Code § 8594.10, Silver Alerts may be activated for missing individuals of any age who are developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired; Senate Bill 1127 expanded the law.
County Tracking Program Offers a Model for Prevention
Los Angeles County runs a separate initiative called L.A. Found, launched in 2018 under the county's Aging & Disabilities Department, which provides voluntary, trackable Project Lifesaver radio-frequency bracelets to residents with autism, Alzheimer's, or dementia who are prone to wandering. The program equips Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department ground teams and helicopters with specialized radio receivers, and county officials reported in 2024, per CBS News, that 100 percent of missing individuals wearing an active bracelet had been located and reunited with caregivers.
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, and FEMA launched the National Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert Initiative in August 2026 to standardize emergency alert protocols across local and state agencies whenever an autistic individual is reported missing.
His family and the LAPD Missing Persons Unit are asking anyone with information to come forward, with his whereabouts since Friday still unknown.
