A school employee was the first to notice something was not right with a child later found malnourished and naked in a North Miami Beach street. 

Marsee Strong, 34, and Edward Bernard Bailey, 40, were arrested on abuse and neglect charges after their 9-year-old son was found malnourished and naked in the middle of a street on Saturday evening, police said. 

Police said the child told investigators he hadn’t eaten in three days, and he weighed 35 pounds, about as much as an average 3- to 5-year-old. Investigators also noted the child had cuts and scratches on his arm and back. 

A teacher at Greynolds Park Elementary School, where the boy attends class, raised a red flag as early as Dec. 6 by calling the Florida Abuse Registry. 

"The call was prompted over concerns over the child's welfare," said John Schuster, of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. 

Staff members at the school became increasingly concerned over the boy’s uncontrollable behavior and a spate of absences from class -- 36 days from this school year alone. 

"Employees are required to report known or suspected child abuse, neglect or abandonment, and in this particular case, school district staff complied with our reporting guidelines and alerted authorities,” Schuster said. 

The Department of Children and Families sent a private investigator to the child's home Dec. 11 but said no abuse allegations were ever launched. 

DCF workers tried to convince an upset judge in court Monday that the investigator, therapist and psychologist assigned never noticed anything unusual. 

"How could we have been blind to this child's abuse?" Judge Cindy Lederman told caseworkers in court Monday. 

The Department of Children and Families released the following statement: 

“It would be imprudent on our part to rush to judgments without having all the facts. In this case and in every case, our priority and the focus is the safety and well-being of the children.”