An adult man with special needs ran away from his residential group home in New Jersey and took Ubers to Orlando where he ended up broke and stuck at Disney World, according to a new Orange County Sheriff’s report.
The situation happened in May although the sheriff’s office took several months to release the incident report which is why WDWNT is writing about it now.
Since then, Adam Castro later returned back home although his mother was distraught Wednesday and said that he has recently left again and gone back to Florida.
“I’ve been praying to God for someone to help,” Adam’s mother, Amina Castro, said when reached by WDWNT. “I know I’m not the only one – a parent, what you go through with an autistic kid.”
Adam Castro, who has autism and other mental health issues, was 23 years old when he left the residential home. He told law enforcement he wanted to go to Disney to celebrate his birthday. The residential home reported him as an endangered person to the local police department in New Jersey.
Adam Castro needs his daily medicine, his mother said.
Out on his own, he booked a room at the Disney’s All Star Resort on May 8 and stayed there for a few days until the hotel was fully booked and he needed to find a different hotel.
His mother, who lives in New Jersey, had been putting money on his debit card, the sheriff’s report states.
On May 12, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office was called to the lobby in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort because Adam Castro couldn’t afford to pay for a room and Disney needed help.
“Initial assistance to Adam was focused on facilitating his ability to secure a room at a resort for the evening, however, as our engagement with Adam continued further information regarding his circumstances of being in Central Florida came to light,” the Orange County Sheriff’s incident report said.
It wasn’t the first time Adam had taken a rideshare to try to go on a long journey to Florida, the sheriff’s report said.
An employee at Adam’s New Jersey group home told the Orange County Sheriff’s Office she was worried that Adam was having a mental health crisis. She also didn’t think he would return to New Jersey on his own and warned he was not being honest with law enforcement.
The Orange County Sheriff’s report was partially redacted, but it did say that Adam refused to go to a mental health facility and the sheriff’s office couldn’t Baker Act him since he didn’t fit the criteria of being a danger to himself or others.
Adam claimed his mom was OK with him being in Florida. Meanwhile, the group home employee said his mother “is in crisis attempting to secure a Florida attorney to assist with returning Adam to New Jersey,” the incident report said.
As this was unfolding, Disney offered Adam a free one-night stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.
Afterward, Disney warned Adam would be trespassed if he stayed on property without booking a room.
Authorities were clearly grappling with what to do to help the 20-something.
“Adam stated to deputies that he intends to travel back to New Jersey via Amtrak in two days, however, he does not have the financial means to do so. Nor does Adam have any lodging or itinerary plans for the next two days,” the Orange County Sheriff’s report.
Somehow, Adam ended up going to the Orlando International Airport and then got on a bus and returned home, said Amina Castro, who has a court-monitored guardianship with her son in New Jersey.
But since then, Adam Castro has escaped again and ventured out on his own.
His mother expressed frustration with being unable to get information from police on her son’s whereabouts. She believes he is staying at a treatment center even though he does not have an addiction, she said.
“Nobody knows what to do. They blame me,” she said as she fears for her son’s safety and when he is coming home.
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