Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News
Lawyer David Perecman (left) stands with the family of Avonte Oquendo outside The Riverview School where he was last seen.
The family of autistic teen Avonte Oquendo, their hopes of a miracle dashed on the rocky banks of the East River, will gather Saturday for a final farewell to the boy.
A Manhattan wake and funeral Mass for the 14-year-old were set nearly four months after Oquendo walked out of his Queens school and disappeared — setting off a citywide manhunt.
Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News
Vanessa Fontaine, mother of Avonte Oquendo, expressed hope that her son could be found as she stood outside The Riverview School in October.
RELATED: AVONTE’S MOM WANTS THE CITY TO TURN OVER FILES
An uncollected reward of nearly $ 90,000 was posted as the ultimately fruitless search continued. He was last seen on Oct. 4.
Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News
Daniel Oquendo, father of Avonte Oquendo, begged for help to find his missing son in October, when there was a chance the teen was still alive.
The boy’s remains began surfacing Jan. 16 in a rocky stretch of shoreline on the Queens side of the river. It wasn’t until five days later that a DNA match confirmed the devastating news.
RELATED: AVONTE OQUENDO REMAINS FOUND, DNA TESTS CONFIRM
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News
NYPD detectives, officers, and divers found Avonte Oquendo’s remains on a deserted stretch of Queens shoreline.
Detectives delivered the results to his weeping mother last Tuesday. Vanessa Fontaine, against all odds, held out hope that her son would return home until the medical examiner tested the remains.
The exact cause of death remains uncertain, but cops theorized the teen lost his balance in a shrub-heavy area near Newtown Creek and plunged 30 feet into the river.
James Keivom/New York Daily News
David Perecman, an attorney representing the family of Avonte Oquendo has filed a $ 25 million lawsuit against the city over the dead autistic teen.
RELATED: FINAL RITES SET FOR AVONTE OQUENDO
The dead teen’s family has filed a $ 25 million notice of claim against the city over the boy’s disappearance from school.
Family lawyer David Perecman says Oquendo walked directly past a security desk in the Riverview School and into the street in the middle of the school day.
The family alleges that police weren’t notified of the non-verbal Avonte’s departure for more than an hour.
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