The desperate, three-months-long search for missing autistic teenager Avonte Oquendo appeared Friday to be coming to a tragic close.
Skeletal remains clad in clothing that appeared to match the outfit 14-year-old Avonte was wearing when he ran off from his school on Oct. 4 were discovered by a teenaged photographer in Queens along the East River shoreline.
All that remained to confirm Oquendo’s parents’ worst fears was a comparison of DNA taken from the body parts with the sample that boy’s mom, Vanessa Fontaine, rushed to investigators. The DNA of the boy’s father is already on file.
“Unfortunately, there is good reason to think it’s him,” said the family’s lawyer, David Perecman. “It’s more than just speculation.”
Still, Avonte’s parents continued to cling to a slim piece of hope that their son was still alive.
The headless body found in College Point was wearing Fruit of the Loom underwear, size large, police said.
Fontaine dressed her son in Hanes brand underwear.
“They’re distraught, but they’re hopeful it’s not him,” Perecman, said. “They remain optimistic that he’s still out there.”
