Avonte Oquendo's brother Danny thanks New York City for the outpouring of love and support.
After a months-long search that began in October, human remains found in January off College Point, Queens were determined to belong to missing 14-year-old boy Avonte Oquendo. On Friday, Avonte's brother Danny Oquendo wrote an essay about his family's ordeal and their gratitude for the community outpouring they received: "On behalf of my family, I would like to thank all the searchers, marchers and everyone who held us in their thoughts for the love and support you have displayed during these extremely rough times. God bless you."
Danny Oquendo says that in spite of NYC's reputation "for being the hardest place on Earth to succeed… a cold, unforgiving, cut-throat Metropolis," where "New Yorkers are labeled as rude, impatient, aggressive, and unsympathetic, I’m writing to tell you that this reputation the rest of the world assumes is far from the truth."
