Found girl home safe

At about 7 p.m. yesterday, Maricopa police officers were called to the 17800 block of N. Kari Lane where a citizen had found a small child wandering the street unattended.

The child, who was approximately three-years-old and dressed in pink pajamas, was pushing a small toy grocery cart full of dolls down the street. The child, who identified herself as “Princess,” was turned over to responding officers and an immediate search was conducted of the surrounding neighborhood in an attempt to locate the child’s home.

After several hours of a searching, the child’s home was not located. Child Protective Services was called and the child was placed in a local temporary foster home at about 11:45 p.m.

At about 12:45 a.m. police received a call from a citizen who lived in the area that indicated they were missing a three-year-old daughter. Officers responded to the home and contacted the parents. The father indicated that he had put his two small children to bed at about 7 p.m. and retired for the evening himself. According to the father, he quickly fell asleep. He was awoken by his wife who had returned home from work about 12:45 a.m. and found the three-year-old missing. Apparently, the father had inadvertently left the front door unlocked and the child was able to slip out of the house undetected.

Officers determined that there was no evidence of any violation of the law and the child was returned to the home at about 1 a.m. to grateful parents. Sgt. Hal Koozer, the supervisor over seeing the case advised, “These things happen all the time. We are confident this was an oversight by the parents and a non-issue.”

The family was referred to Child Protective Services for follow up.