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NATCHEZ — A five-year-old student at Joseph Frazier Elementary School walked away from the school late this morning, but was found safe near the Family Dollar on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, about mile from the school.

The child’s mother said the child was recognized by people who knew her and they called her to alert her that they had the child.

“She was being bullied and walked was trying to get away from that,” the child’s mother said. “The school didn’t even notify me that she was missing.”

Tony Fields, director of public relations and communications for the Natchez-Adams School District, said the issue is being investigated in an effort to make sure it does not happen again.

“We are extremely grateful the child was found and found safe and that she got to the parent. Everything else is being investigation,” Fields said. “I can’t stress enough how thankful we are that the baby was found safe.”

“We have some great people in our community who do the right thing,” he said. “We are truly remorseful and we need to get to the root of what happened.”