NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A little girl found wandering around a Northwest Miami-Dade community has been reunited with her parents, Tuesday night.
The mother arrived at the scene first, followed shortly by the father, police said.
The father was seen quickly moving past police tape saying, “I am the father.”
“When we reunited the dad with the toddler, she opened her arms and said, ‘Papi,'” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Lee Cowart.
Miami-Dade Police confirmed Wednesday morning that the man and woman are indeed the parents.
#Breaking: man who says he’s the father of unattended wandering toddler found hours ago in NW #Miami Dade now w/police. @wsvn #7News pic.twitter.com/HDWZjrVgP4
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) May 30, 2018
“We’re changing the mode from finding the parents, to investigating what happened here,” said Cowart.
The child, thought to be between 2 and 3 years old, was found wandering in a gated community located along the 17800 block of Northwest 59th Avenue, earlier Tuesday afternoon.
A photo sent by a 7News viewer showed the child next to a fire rescue truck.
Neighbors in the community went door to door trying to see if somebody knew who she was.
“We’re all a very close community, so everybody really knows everyone,” said one resident. “We were just really surprised ’cause if we know somebody, we’re obviously gonna help you, but we don’t know her.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families also responded to the scene and is assisting investigators. Police believe there was miscommunication between the couple and the child’s babysitter.
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