Unattended toddler reunited with parents in Hialeah

Police investigating why girl found wandering alone

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A young girl who was found wandering alone near a Hialeah apartment complex was reunited with her parents late Tuesday, police said.

Detective Lee Cowart, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said a concerned neighbor found the girl about 6 p.m. walking near the Park View Condos in the 17820 block of Northwest 59th Avenue.

She appeared to be between 2 and 4 years old and police had trouble communicating with her. She spoke only a few Spanish words.

Cowart said a man claiming to be the child's father showed up at the apartment complex just before 11 p.m. The girl recognized the man and called him "papa."

Police and the Florida Department of Children and Families are investigating how the girl wandered away.

"The investigation part of this now just starts," Cowart said.