Missing Girl Seen Again in Florida, Police Say

Two more confirmed sightings of Leticia Hernandez were announced Monday by Oceanside police.

The sightings in Northern Florida bring to four the number of times the 7-year-old girl has been seen in that state, said Bob George, a Police Department spokesman.

Leticia was reported missing from her Bush Street home Dec. 16 and, although no one saw her being abducted, a child fitting her description has been spotted numerous times in the Southwest and South, traveling with a couple. In February, when the initial Florida sightings were reported, a second woman was seen with the couple and the little girl.

One of the latest sightings occurred on March 26 about 9 p.m., George said. Leticia was seen with the three adults at a service station off Interstate 10 near Greensboro, Fla. Then, in the early morning on March 31, the little girl was seen in a small rural market in Mariana, about 20 miles west of Greensboro, with the younger of the two women.

“She appeared to be under the control of the adult,” George said. “There were no obvious signs of bruises, and she made no attempt to talk.”

In recent weeks, the Oceanside Police Department had sent about 4,000 flyers, with photos of Leticia and composite drawings of the adults and the car in which they have been traveling, to police departments and community groups throughout Northern Florida.

The flyers “generated several new leads,” George said, adding that the latest confirmed sightings were among those leads. FBI agents in Florida are investigating the other leads.

On Feb. 2., Leticia was seen at a service station in Panama City, Fla., and, on Feb. 5, she was seen in Branford, Fla., several miles east of Panama City.

The adult male is described as white, age 30 to 35, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and about 200 pounds. The first woman is described as white, in her mid-30s, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 130 pounds. She is believed to have shoulder-length, bleached-blond hair.

The second woman seen with Leticia only in Florida is also white, with curly, shoulder-length brown and gray hair. She is believed to be in her late 40s.

Leticia’s story has been aired on several television programs and inspired an Oceanside police officer to write a song about her.

The brown-eyed, brown-haired girl was sitting outside her family’s Bush Street home just before she disappeared.