ST. GEORGE – A joint effort between community and law enforcement located a 9-year-old girl from the Dixie Downs area of St. George today after she had been spotted away from her neighborhood, raising concerns for her welfare by a neighbor and then her parents.
The girl’s family had recently moved into the area and a neighbor who was leaving Lin’s Market spotted the girl riding her bike on Sunset Boulevard, St. George Police Sgt. Dave Williams said. Seeing the young girl away from home gave the neighbor pause and she decided to alert the girl’s mother.
“She walked up to the young girl’s house and said, ‘hey, I just saw your daughter,’” Williams said.
The parents were concerned and the police were called out at 4:59 p.m., Williams said. Police worked with the parents who thought they knew who their daughter might be with, but only by first name. Police then took that information to her school, where the school resource officers and one of her teachers were able to identify the name of the child she might be with and direct them to his parents.
“The little boy she was with, we were able to go talk to his parents,” Williams said, “who pointed us in the right direction and the children were located at a karate studio.”
It was a community commitment, Williams said. “Lost children is a very serious situation, we would much rather have everyone out there and have it turn out to be a little kid wandered off,” than the alternative.
At the end of the day, the children were found at 5:45 p.m. This was a case of two kids wandering off, Williams said, and then found.
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