Brothers, ages 3 and 4, walk home alone in after-school mixup

GERMANTOWN -- The School District of Philadelphia and the Boys and Girls Club are investigating after 3- and 4-year-old brothers walked more than a half mile home alone.

The boys were supposed to be at their after school day care.

Four-year-old Tevin Whitehead Jr. held his little brother Tabron's hand Monday afternoon as the two walked home, crossing busy streets along the way.

When asked about knowing how to read traffic signals, Tevin of Germantown said, "The red light means stop and the green light means go."

The boys' father, Tevin Sr., was shocked when the doorbell rang and his sons were on the doorstep.

"They said to me, 'Daddy, we walked home.' So I looked left and I looked right, and I am looking around to see - did they really walk home by theirself?"

The boys attend a pre-k program at Wister Elementary. Afterschool, the boys get picked up by a church day care. When that employee arrived for the pickup on Monday, the boys were nowhere to be found on school property.

"It was a mix-up, and I am just wondering how did they lose a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old?" said Rakida Brown, the boys' mother.

It turns out, the Whitehead boys got in the line with kids going to the Boys and Girls Club, and left with that group.

What happened next is unclear.

The Boys and Girls Club said its employee brought the kids back to the school. The district said by this time school employees had called police. They were frantically looking for the boys, but never saw them returned to the school.

"When you brought my kids back, did you take my kids inside the school? Did you take them to the principal?" said Tevin Sr.

The next anyone can account for the kids is they were on the doorstep of their own home - blocks away. Luckily, safe and sound.

"This shouldn't have happened. This shouldn't have happened," Rakida said.

At first, the Boys and Girls Club said it is investigating and hopes to find video from the school building.

Later, they adjusted their statement to say the boys were not members of the club, and there is no investigation in to their employees' behavior.

The school district is also investigating, and strengthening its policies and procedures.