Watch CBS News

10-Year-Old Runaway Found Safe Nearly 30 Miles From Her Home

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Police have located a 10-year-old girl who went missing Thursday night from her Golden home.

search (5)
(credit: CBS)

An extensive search for the runaway took place overnight and just before 7:30 a.m. the Jefferson County Sheriff's office said Madeleine Malloy is safe.

"She was found safe in an apartment complex in Aurora," sheriff's spokeswoman Jenny Fulton said. "She's with our deputies and our investigators and she's doing fine and we're just happy to report that she's been found."

The girl hid in the back of a family friend's vehicle, unbeknownst to the driver, when that person drove to Aurora. Then Malloy left the vehicle after it was parked at the friend's home for the night. She was located at a nearby residence, in the 17000 block of East Stanford, Friday morning.

"She actually knocked on a door of a resident at the apartment complex and she was hungry, so they fed her and called law enforcement," Fulton said.

Authorities had set up checkpoints at West 60th Avenue and Easley Road and West 58th Avenue and Highway 93 in Golden. Cars were being stopped and flyers with Malloy's picture were being handed out. A helicopters and K9 teams had been involved in the search and a call for volunteers went out shortly before she was found.

search (1)
(credit: CBS)

The girl apparently left her home alone sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday night. That was after police say she went to her room following an argument with a family member.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.