Grandmother of 3-year-old found on porch worries parents are dead after burned car discovered
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Police in Buffalo have made contact with the grandmother of the 3-year-old boy who was found sleeping in a box on a Potomac Avenue porch.
Lois Augsburger said that around 8 a.m. Monday, she stepped outside and found the boy wrapped in a blanket. He was wearing only a pull-up diaper and was in a cardboard box she leaves out for cats.
“I come out the door, and I open this up, and I just happened to look down and I see him starting to crawl out,” Augsburger said.
“He was crawling out of the box. He heard me. He must’ve heard me open the door and he came crawling out of the box, and he had the blanket around him, and I picked him up and I hugged him.”
Dana, a daycare provider who chose to not have her last name made public, said the boy was in good spirits and wasn’t hungry.
“I had given him a car to make him a little more friendly. He enjoyed the car. He told me he has a sister. When I asked him what his mom’s name was, he said ‘Mommy.’”
She says he repeatedly referenced a burning car.
On Tuesday morning, News 4 spoke with the boy’s grandmother and learned his name is Noelvin.
Currently, Noelvin is in the custody of Child Protective Services (CPS). CPS is in the process of reuniting the boy with his family.
Nicole Mersed, 24, and 31-year-old Migel Valentin are the child’s parents, and the grandmother we spoke with fears that they were in a car that burned behind Black Rock Mini Storage on Tonawanda Street on Monday.
That car was found just before 6 p.m., and Buffalo police discovered possible human remains inside.
The fire, which police say burned extremely hot, and for a long time, probably began around 3 a.m. on Monday.
Ultimately, police believe it extinguished itself after badly damaging the vehicle to point of making it nearly unidentifiable.
Anyone who saw smoke or fire in that area, or witnessed anything worth reporting to police, can call homicide detectives at (716) 851-4466.