5-Year-Old Found After Intense Hunt

A massive search for a missing 5-year-old girl involving bloodhounds, infrared cameras, helicopters and nearly 100 law enforcement officers ended abruptly Thursday night when the girl and a stranger who had taken her home walked into the lobby of the Huntington Park Police Station, authorities said.

Moments later, the girl was reunited with her tearful mother and relatives, who rushed to the station.

The girl had disappeared from her mother’s side about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at a Huntington Park insurance office.

The man who took her to police more than 24 hours later, Juan Manuel, was detained for questioning. He told the news media that the girl appeared to be lost when he came upon her on the street.

He said he walked her around to various businesses, trying to determine where her mother was. Eventually, he gave up and took her to his home for a meal and safeguarding, he said.

“I took her to different stores,” he said. Finally, he said, “everything was closed.”

“She ate food and I took care of her,” he said. “I didn’t return her when I picked her up because I thought I’d wait for her identity to come out on TV so I could move on to bring her to the Police Department.”

The two arrived at the police station as detectives were processing information provided by a taxi driver who apparently had given the man and girl a ride the night before, Lt. Mike Leinen said.

“The little girl appears unharmed,” Leinen said. “But it’s highly suspicious that somebody would take her away . . . and not make any attempt to notify the family or authorities.

“At this point, he’s being handled as a witness,” Leinen said. But “as soon as his face appeared on television, we started getting calls from other police stations.” Police were not certain that Juan Manuel is his real name, Leinen said.

Earlier, in a tearful gathering outside the police station, family members had appealed for the public’s help in locating the child they described as “a happy-go-lucky girl” who loves to draw and sing.

“I have faith in God that she is going to be found,” said Gloria Martinez, who said she is the girl’s aunt. “That’s all we have now, is our faith.”

The girl’s mother, of nearby Maywood, declined to speak to the press, police said.

The disappearance unnerved parents in the heavily Latino, working-class community, who watched nervously as an army of investigators scoured the city and led bloodhounds through parks, businesses and homes near the insurance agency where the girl had last been seen.

“It scares me that my son walks this way to school,” said Angela Urena, referring to her 12-year-old son who attends nearby Gage Middle School. “I already told him this morning to take another street, but they could take you on any street.”

The extent of the search was apparently unprecedented for the southeast Los Angeles County community.

Dozens of sheriff’s search and rescue officers used infrared cameras to scrutinize the sewers beneath a five-block radius around the insurance office.

Fifty FBI agents went door to door for miles, showing photos of the girl to residents and merchants. Huntington Park police flew over the neighborhood in a helicopter.

Police led bloodhounds around the insurance office at Zoe and Seville avenues. The dogs appeared to catch a scent that led them toward a residential area near the Huntington Park Civic Center, but they turned back after a few blocks.

Asked if the number of investigators used in the search was unusually large, Huntington Park Police Chief Randy Narramore said: “It’s not a lot if it’s your child.”

Investigators said the girl’s mother made an insurance payment at Michelle’s Travel Agency and Insurance office on Zoe Avenue on Wednesday and was about to leave when she stopped and turned back to speak to an employee in the office.

Witnesses said they saw the girl wander outside while her mother’s back was turned.

“We were distracted for two or three minutes, but no more than that,” said Esther Viramontes, the co-owner of the insurance agency.

Viramontes said the mother assumed the girl was waiting by her car, which was parked nearby on the street. When the mother and employees at the office could not find the girl on the sidewalk, they called police.

Relatives said the Maywood girl was not familiar with the Huntington Park neighborhood.