An arm, legs, underwear, dark jeans and size 5½ Air Jordan sneakers turned up on the Queens side of the East River. The jeans and shoes were the same size of Avonte Oquendo, an autistic 14-year-old last seen last fall walking unsupervised out of his school. 

Yet his mother was steadfast: "It's not Avonte until it's Avonte." 

That time has come. 

On Tuesday -- five days after those body parts and scraps of clothing were found -- Vanessa Fontaine learned that DNA tests proved her son's remains indeed had been found. 

Her lawyer said that Fontaine has been stoic, strong, focused and hopeful throughout this ordeal. But after police told her the news on Tuesday, "she finally just broke down ... just crying and crying." 

"I kept saying, Vanessa, say it again," David Perecman said of his muddled phone conversation. To which she replied through the tears, "It's Avonte, it's Avonte. (The police) came. It's Avonte." 

So ended not just her family's search for the teenager, but that of the United States' most populated city. Police deployed sniffer dogs, combed surveillance footage and repeatedly canvassed each of New York City's 468 subway stations because of Avonte's love of trains. 

Missing teen's fascination with trains shifts search 

The most poignant, most personal part of the search was Fontaine's recorded voice that was broadcast from patrol cars and other search vehicles. Avonte couldn't communicate verbally and had the mental capacity of a 7- or 8-year-old. But Fontaine hoped that he would hear her and head toward a police car's flashing lights to safety. 
how many subway stations did they search?
surveillance footage and repeatedly canvassed each of New York City's 468 subway stations because of Avonte's love of trains. 