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Missing Kips Bay Teen Found in Queens on Wednesday Night

By Noah Hurowitz | January 21, 2016 12:05pm
 Police located Kyle Hoffmaier, 16, after someone spotted him in Kew Gardens on Wednesday night.
Police located Kyle Hoffmaier, 16, after someone spotted him in Kew Gardens on Wednesday night.
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Facebook/Susan Hoffmaier DeCicco

KIPS BAY — A Kips Bay teenager who went missing last week was located safe and sound in Queens on Wednesday night, according police and family members.

Officers caught up with Kyle Hoffmaier, 16, at the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens E/F subway stop after an employee at a nearby PC Richards and Sons spotted the boy, according to Kyle’s dad, James Hoffmaier.

The employee, who had friends in common with the family, called Kyle’s mom Neva, and updated her on his location as he followed the teen, while James Hoffmaier called the authorities, Hoffmaier said.

Some time later that evening, a plainclothes officer found Kyle, who his family members described as borderline on the autism spectrum, sitting in the Kew Gardens subway station reading Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.”

The police officer began speaking to the teen, and when he told the teen that he was with the NYPD, the boy said “ya got me coppers,” according to his father.

The teen’s aunt met him at the 112th Precinct stationhouse in Queens, and he was then transported to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation, where he remained on Thursday morning.

“It’s touch and go right now,” his father told DNAInfo on Thursday, before rushing to the hospital to see his son.

The five-day search, which enlisted a small army of volunteers scouring Union Square and other possible hangouts, had kicked into gear after Hoffmaier stormed out of the family’s apartment on 24th Street on the night of Jan. 15, according to Kyle's father.

After receiving a tip that he had been spotted several times on the 4 train, family members and volunteers rode the line in groups hoping to find the younger Hoffmaier.

Once his son was found safely, the elder Hoffmaier thanked everyone who had helped look or shared the posts that had led to the missing boy’s location.

“Words cannot express the gratitude I have for all of you," he said. "You have renewed my absolute faith in humanity."