Family Rushes To Hospital After Missing Aurora Girl Found Safe
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - It was 10 a.m. Monday when Daniela Ruano-Morales' family says the girl left her home. Daniela, 10, was believed to have left on her own, but gave no indication where she was going.
She lives near Montview Boulevard and Elmira Street in Aurora.
The search went on through Monday night with dogs brought in, but they unable to locate her. Then just after noon on Tuesday came the word all had been hoping for.
"We just received confirmation that Daniela has been found. She is safe and she is receiving treatment at this time," said Crystal McCoy, a spokeswoman the Aurora Police Department.
The girl's Spanish-speaking family members rushed to be reunited with the girl.
"Daniela esta bien?" asked CBS4's Rick Sallinger.
"Esta bien," said a family member.
"Donde?" asked Sallinger.
"En el hospital," they answered.
"En el hospital. Que pasado?" Sallinger asked further.
Answering questions in Spanish, they said she was okay in the hospital, but they had no information about what had happened. Police say a distant relative found Daniela more than two miles from home near 6th Avenue and Peoria Street. That is about a 50 minute walk from her home.
Cristian Franco lives in the same house as Daniela.
"What was the reaction of the family when they got the word?" Sallinger asked.
"They were really happy, sad and happy at the same time that they were going to be able to see her again," he said.
It was not immediately clear why she disappeared or where she spent the night.
The discovery brought to an end what had been an all out effort to locate the missing girl. The FBI was among the agencies that joined in the hunt. Aurora police praised the numerous departments that assisted and said spreading the word through social media helped.
LINK: Aurora Police News Release
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
