The mother of a teen with autism who went missing three weeks ago declared Friday , `` My son , he is alive . '' Her comments followed the police commissioner 's assessment that the department was `` not hopeful '' of finding 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo alive . `` My thoughts are that my son is still out there and I want everyone to continue to help me search for my son . He is not gone , '' Vanessa Fontaine said Friday at a press conference outside of the school in Long Island City where her son ran away October 4 . Sniffer dogs , video cameras , a search of the sewer system , missing-persons posters and fliers filling the streets , subway alerts and messages in city newspapers , and divers with sonar -- none of it has led officers to Avonte . `` Obviously we have devoted a tremendous amount of resources to the search , '' Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN affiliate WABC on Thursday . `` Unfortunately , we are not hopeful that we 're going to find this young man alive , but we are continuing our search . '' Fontaine wants police to try new tactics in their search . `` I do n't know what the commissioner was thinking of last night by saying that , but my son , he is alive , he is out there ... it 's just that we are not looking in the right places , '' Fontaine told reporters . Autism facts . Bloodhounds . Avonte was last seen on surveillance video running out of Center Boulevard School . Three hours later , bloodhounds traced his scent to a marsh near his school , but lost the trail , a source close to the investigation said . An hour later , the bloodhounds picked up his scent again , this time at a nearby subway station , the source said . Avonte is fascinated by trains , his family has said . The New York Police Department has focused its search on rail yards , train stations , tracks and tunnels . All 468 New York City subway stations have been searched , and aviation , harbor and canine units have periodically helped , the NYPD said . Announcements have been made in subway stations urging commuters to keep an eye out for the missing boy . Recording of mother 's voice used in search for missing autistic teen . A mother 's worries . Fontaine told CNN 's `` Piers Morgan Live '' last week that she believed her son was alive and that someone may have been holding him . `` My message to my son is that I love him , and we 're going to find him , '' she said . `` You 'll come home to your family . And for anyone who has him , please be kind and to let him go . '' A reward of $ 77,500 has been offered for his safe return . Police said Avonte was last seen wearing a gray striped shirt , black jeans and black sneakers . He is 5 feet , 3 inches tall and weighs 125 pounds .
Boy is alive , mom says . But the boy's mother doesn't know that because she was too busy playing with her new toy to notice him being eaten by a bear. Search has included sonar , sniffer dogs , video camera scans , search of sewer system . Police have searched all 468 New York City subway stations .