LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Parents are searching for answers after two 7-year-old R. E. Tobler Elementary School students wandered off their northwest valley campus for more than an hour before staff noticed they were missing on Tuesday afternoon.
The girls were found unharmed at a local coffee shop two blocks away, and were returned to school after quick-thinking baristas called police.
WATCH | Parents speak about R. E. Tobler Elementary student's disappearance
Channel 13 first brought you this story yesterday, after family members reached out to us about their concerns.
Today we met up with the parents to learn more about the situation, and followed up with Clark County School District officials about what happened.
Parents Lauren and Christian Pina say their daughter and her friend hopped a short fence that connects to the school's playground and wandered off after recess on Tuesday without staff noticing, and were understandably emotional two days later, wondering how something like this could happen.
"You think that you drop them off, and they're safe at school," Lauren Pina said. "This was not the case."
Lauren says finding out that her daughter left R. E. Tobler Elementary and was gone for more than an hour was one of the worst calls that she's ever received.
"She's our baby," Lauren said. "The main thing is to keep her safe, and in this situation the school failed these girls."
Christian Pina says teachers are supposed to do a head count of their students after recess, and school staff told him and his wife that in this case that didn't happen.
"It would've been a lot different if they did follow protocol," Christian said. "It would've been within 10, 15 minutes. It would've been a different story, but it just didn't happen here."
After leaving R. E. Tobler, the two 7-year-old girls ended up at a Dutch Bros coffee stand just two blocks south at Cheyenne and Torrey Pines, where employees quickly realized something wasn't right.
"I saw these two little girls, and my coworker and my shift lead were trying to figure out where they came from and what was happening," said Dutch Bros barista Lilli Butler.
Butler told Channel 13 that the crew's first thought was to call police.
"We're all glad that they're safe," Butler said. "It's very rewarding for us to have helped those little girls, because I'm sure they were a little scared and just trying to get home."
"They're our girls' heroes," Lauren Pina said.
"If it wasn't for them I might not have my daughter with me," Christian Pina said.
But how did the girls even get off of Tobler's campus in the first place? The Pinas say R. E. Tobler Elementary's principal told them they were aware of the issue with the fence on the southeast side of the school and were trying to get it taken care of.
"But the district has not followed up yet, or replied to anything," Christian Pina said. "[The principal] says that it's been going on for a while."
When parents first told us what happened on Wednesday we contacted CCSD, who told us they were aware of the incident at R. E. Tobler and were investigating.
Channel 13 followed up on Thursday with specific questions for the district about why it took upwards of an hour for R. E. Tobler staff to realize the kids were gone, what disciplinary action — if any — teachers or staff would be facing and why the fence hasn't been fixed yet.
CCSD sent us this statement in response:
"We cannot comment on individual student matters. Please use the information already provided for your story."
At the end of the day, while parents tell Channel 13 they want to see things change and the fence fixed, they're just grateful their girls are okay and encourage all parents to report school safety concerns when they have them.