Edwin Sabillon's mother, brother and grandfather were killed last October in a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch that swept through the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

He was the only survivor when a mudslide swept away his family home

They were among more than 6,000 people killed as Mitch - one of the worst hurricanes in recent memory - pounded Central America.

Without any other surviving relatives, Edwin wrote to his father, Grevi Sabillon Vazquez, who he has only seen in photographs.

His father sent $200 and told him to meet him at New York's La Guardia airport at the end of June.

The BBC's Philippa Thomas: "So far there has been no happy ending"

Edwin set out on a journey of more than 7,000km (4350 miles), crossing Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States before arriving in New York on Sunday.

Marathon quest

It took him 37 days of hitch-hiking, bus rides, cycling and hard foot work to reach his destination.

(Click here to see a map of Edwin's incredible journey)

Much of Central America was devastated by Hurricane Mitch

After crossing the border in Texas, he arrived in Miami and asked a Cuban man in a restaurant for directions to New York, which he thought was nearby.

On the way he lost his wallet, his money and his father's address.

Moved by Edwin's story, the man and other customers banded together to collect the $87 bus fare to New York.

Arriving in the Bronx he asked a taxi driver, Jose Bosra, to take him to the airport. But his father was nowhere to be seen and the cab driver alerted city authorities to his young passenger's plight.

Special circumstances

Cab driver Jose Bosra found him wandering New York's streets

New York police suspect Mr Vazquez may be an illegal immigrant, but they have said they will take no action against him because of the special humanitarian circumstances.

The mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, has promised to do everything possible to help locate the father.

The taxi driver, who has bought Edwin a pair of rollerblades in an effort to keep him occupied, has also offered to adopt him if his father cannot be found.

"What he did was incredible," Mr Basora told the New York Daily News. "Now he needs some help."

In the meantime Edwin is in the care of New York's child services agency, surviving on Big Macs and ice cream as the city's authorities and media pull out all the stops to find his missing father.