Police Unable to Find Parents of Mute Girl

Police authorities from two Southern California counties have yet to locate the parents of a mute 11-year-old girl who apparently was abandoned in a La Jolla department store about two weeks ago.

A police agency in Orange County told San Diego police that they had located the residence of the girl’s parents, but no one was at the home when police arrived Friday, San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said. Authorities wouldn’t identify the Orange County police agency.

Both agencies and the San Diego County Department of Social Services want to question the girl’s parents as to what happened, and neither organization would release the girl’s name, or that of her parents. Police learned the child’s identity when a teacher who had known the girl and who was attending a seminar in San Diego saw a television news report asking people with information about her identity to call the social services department.

“There is some concern because the girl has a 7-year-old brother who we believe is still with the parents,” Robinson said.

The girl was discovered wandering alone in the May Co. store at La Jolla Village Square on Sept. 14. Mute, and originally believed to be deaf, she is now living with a San Diego foster family.