A New York City family blamed the Department of Education for the disappearance of their 13-year-old son, saying Thursday he “was supposed to be escorted” by his coach when he vanished in the East River nearly a week ago.
Kavion Brown Godfrey, 13, was last seen in the water near East 6th Street and FDR Drive Friday afternoon before he was swept away, witnesses told police.
“To my knowledge, my son was supposed to be escorted to a soccer game by his basketball coach,” Donnell Godfrey, his stepfather, said at a press conference at a Brooklyn law firm.
“I just want you guys to help me find my baby, because I need him,” added his mother, Laquana Badger Godfrey.
Godfrey had gone downtown with his coach to attend a game for Lower East Side Prep, where he plays basketball.
His parents said the coach had encouraged the basketball team to come support the soccer kids because there was no practice.
Their lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said they are looking to see if the DOE’s “responsibility” to look after Godfrey was “breached.”
“We will conduct an investigation with regard to that issue and make a determination, and if they are responsible, take appropriate legal action,” Rubenstein said.
Earlier this week, the Godfrey family told The Post they wanted the NYPD to expand its search, saying the East River is “very large” and they needed “every corner searched from Brooklyn to the Bronx to Long Island.”
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The NYPD said its doing the “best we can to find this young man” at a press conference today.
“We put our drones up. We had our harbor. We had our scuba team out there. We had aviation. We’ve done everything that the department is in possession of to try to find this young man,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard said.
“It still remains a tragedy no matter what, even when we recover him. But again, our hearts and prayers go out for the family. But there’s no more we could have done to try to locate this child.”
The Godfrey family is still hoping to find their “athletic” and “happy” boy alive.
They dread telling Godfrey’s three younger siblings, who are “heartbroken” since his disappearance.
The family said they don’t understand why their son would go into the river.
The family remembers their son as “intelligent” and someone who would help anyone in need.
The NYC DOE did not respond to a request for comment regarding Godfrey’s disappearance.
