NEW ORLEANS — It has now been 7 days since 12-year-old Bryan Vasquez went missing from his home in Village de L’Est. His family is pushing to expand the search, believing he is still alive.

“Now we need to move across Chef Menteur Highway, now we need to look by the trucks and by the storage and by the tire shops and down Almonaster and down different waterways,” said Cristi Rosales-Fajardo, a community organizer speaking on behalf of Vasquez’ mother.

The NOPD said Vasquez left his house on Beaucaire Street through a bedroom window early Thursday morning. He is autistic and non-verbal. Rosales-Fajardo said earlier that his mother had an alarm system set up at their old house, but had recently moved into their current one and had not had a chance to do so yet.

Many children with autism a

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