Lost Tot Is Found Miles From Home

A frantic search for a 2-year-old toddler who wandered away from her South Los Angeles home Friday afternoon ended about six hours later in Hollywood when an unidentified man dropped her off at a Spanish-language radio station and fled, authorities said.

Brenda Jasemine Rangel was reported to be in good condition after the ordeal, which began about 3 p.m. the 8700 block of Hooper Avenue and ended at 8:30 p.m. at the offices of KKHJ radio on Hollywood Boulevard, said Sheriff’s Deputy Harry Van.

Van said the child would be taken to a hospital for observation after being reunited with her parents, Miguel and Consuelo Rangel.

The little girl was reported missing by her mother, who told authorities that the child had gone to the kitchen to throw out a piece of food and had not come back.

Sheriff’s investigators speculated that she might have wandered out a side door and down an alleyway toward the front of the house. Authorities said the child’s mother called 911 within minutes of her disappearance, and there was no sign of foul play.

However, when hours passed with no sign of the 3-foot-tall, 35-pound girl, neighbors began distributing fliers with her picture, and squad cars began scouring the neighborhood. As night fell, a helicopter also was brought into the search.

About 8:30 p.m., as the temperature fell below 50 degrees, deputies brought in a bloodhound as well. But even as concern intensified, about 10 miles away, a man described only as of Hispanic origin had dropped the child off at the radio station and fled, authorities said.

Details on the girl’s sudden reappearance were sketchy, deputies said. Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Killeen said that the man left the station without identifying himself and before local police could arrive to detain him. “At this point, we’re treating this as a kidnapping,” Killeen said, adding that intense media attention may have helped save the child.

“We feel the man may have felt it was too hot to keep her and left her at the station,” he said.

Neighbors said the girl has four siblings, whose ages range from 9 to 22.

They added that the family moved to the neighborhood this year, and that few had gotten to know them well.