13-year-old Van Nuys girl located

Police have located a 13-year-old girl who went missing Saturday afternoon with a man who in recent weeks had helped her family around their house, authorities said.

Maria Josefa Roman and her family befriended the man, a transient known to them as Michael Stewart, several weeks ago, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

About 3 p.m. Saturday, Stewart and Maria took her family’s red 1998 Nissan Pathfinder, with the license plate number 8CHH187, to run an errand. They were last seen in the 16700 block of Archwood Street in Van Nuys. Police said the girl’s disappearance was “extremely suspicious.”

Police found Maria on Sunday afternoon, but Stewart remained missing. Detectives were going to interview the girl before releasing her to her parents, authorities said. Police did not immediately have additional details about where she spent the night.

Stewart is described as a 50-year-old Latino man with brown hair and brown eyes, 5 feet 7 and about 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, gray pants, and black-and-white shoes.

Anyone with information is urged to call Los Angeles police at (818) 374-7730.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek

UPDATES:

6:25 p.m.: This article was updated to reflect the girl was found.

This article was originally published at 4:20 p.m.