Monterey County bus driver helps to reunite lost special needs child with family

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Monterey-Salinas Transit is recognizing one of its drivers for helping to reunite a lost child with special needs with his family.

MST said driver Linda Andrada checked her phone during her lunch break on Saturday and saw a Facebook post about the lost child. After returning to her bus, she noticed a child on the side of the road fitting the description a few minutes into the drive.

Andrada pulled over, and MST said the child told her that he was lost and asked if she could call his father. She was able to contact his father and then the MST Communication Center, which then contacted law enforcement. She then met a supervisor at the Salinas Transit Center and reunited the child with his family.

"Linda’s watchfulness and good sense to follow her instinct saved this young boy from what could have been a very different ending. We are proud to have Linda as part of the MST team, and are so happy that this young boy is safe and with his family," the agency wrote in a statement.