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Two New Jersey parents had some terrifying moments after they found out their daughter had been sent off from school with a complete stranger.

Officials from Dale Avenue School are trying to make amends with the parents of a 3-year-old girl named Madison after they allowed her to leave the building with a woman claiming to be her grandmother. WNBC reports that the woman came to the school to pick up a little girl pre-K that she thought was her granddaughter last Monday.

The problem is that the unidentified woman had not seen her granddaughter in nine months. When Madison showed up, the lady hugged and kissed the little girl, certain that she was embracing a family member before taking the girl home. A rep for the district explained that the mix-up may have resulted from the fact that both of the little girls have the same first name

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A few moments later, the school principal realized that they’d made a huge mistake and immediately alerted Madison’s mother. Did we mention that Madison’s mom happens to be a teacher at the Dale Avenue School? Because she is.

Upon learning that Madison was gone, her father, Gemar Mills, told WNBC that he and the girl’s mom were panicked. “Your child is missing. We don’t know where she is. We’re hysterical, we’re going crazy,” he recalled. Adding to the anxiety, Madison had a peanut allergy; being out of her parent’s care—or at least someone that knows about the condition—could have been deadly.

A rep for Dale Avenue School noted that the girl was not gone long before she was returned to her parents. The official stated that the principal “she worked quickly to ensure the child was returned safely to the school, which she was (within 30 minutes).”

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Gemar said that was more than enough time to do some damage. “She keeps telling me, ‘I went to the lady’s house and then the man yelled out, ‘That’s not our baby, bring her back,'” Gemar said. “She remembers that stuff.”

He continued “She says, ‘I don’t wanna go to school, I don’t want that lady to get me.”

Madison’s father is outraged at how this could have happened, and he’s reported the incident to New Jersey’s child protective services department.

For its part, the Dale Avenue has now stepped up security measures at the school and adults are now required to show ID before they leave the grounds with a child in order to verify that they are authorized to have the student.

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