An investigation continues today after a 3-year-old girl was found wandering Tuesday night with no shoes on the streets of Van Nuys, authorities said.
“We don’t know how long she was wandering, but it’s always unusual to find a toddler wandering Bahsine I don’t care where you are,” said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Steve Gottschalk of Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Station.
Her family was eventually located, and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was notified, Gottschalk said.
The girl was found about 6:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of Kester Avenue, near Sherman Way, LAPD officials said. A neighbor who watched news reports called authorities to say they recognized her.
Gottschalk confirmed the girl was 3 years old, and he said when the toddler was asked her age in an interview, she “held up three fingers.”
Police officers that found the toddler told reporters at the scene that the girl was wandering near traffic with no shoes on, potentially unaccounted for hours.
Police had put out a call for the public’s help in locating a parent or anyone else responsible for the child.
“We brought her here to the station,” Gottschalk said. “Immediately the captain got on with the news stations. We got her picture out there. We were able to locate the mother.”
On Tuesday night, Los Angeles police Officer Tony Im said an investigation was under way into how the girl came to be wandering the streets alone, and whoever was responsible for her could face charges.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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