Milwaukee bus operator helps saves 2 kids walking alone in street

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WITI) - Parents of two toddlers are thankful a Milwaukee County bus operator was in the right place at the right time – after the children wandered off from their babysitter.

The Wisconsin bus driver is getting credit for saving the two children’s lives.

Alert MCTS driver Jeannie Mitchell was having a typical day until she spotted the two kids walking alone in the street.

Surveillance cameras on the bus caught what happened next.

“Where y’all goin’? Where y’all live at? In that house, right there?” Mitchell asks the children after she stops and opens the bus doors. “Does your mama know you out, by yourself? Where you trying to go?”

It happened the morning of October 12. The children, a 5-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy, were wandering aimlessly.

"I stopped, and said, you know, ‘These children are by themselves.’ So, I decided to pull over, and ask the kids where were they going, and who were they with," Mitchell said after the incident.

Recognizing the children are not aware of their surroundings, Mitchell, who says she'd only been driving this route for a month, called Milwaukee police. A responding officer helped the children contact their mother, after learning they walked away from a babysitter, and were trying to find a relative’s house.

"If the parent hadn't showed-up, I would, still, be thinking, 'What happened to those children?' But, once the police showed-up, and did their part, I felt a lot better,” Mitchell said.

She also said she had a similar experience once, as a parent. About 15 years ago, her then-5-year-old son went missing for around 12-hours. Mitchell said she was motivated to try to prevent another parent from experiencing a similar situation.