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Missing Los Angeles Girl Found Safe at Clinic; Woman Who Took Her There in Custody
By Paul Wilborn Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 14, 2002




LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 4-year-old girl who vanished from a park last weekend turned up "dirty and disheveled" Tuesday at a medical clinic, where workers called police after recognizing the child and determining the woman who brought her there wasn't her mother.
Los Angeles Police Chief Martin Pomeroy said the girl, Jessica Cortez, seemed to be OK but that her hair had been cut. He said Jessica was later taken to a hospital where she was being examined and was reunited with her family.

"The mother, as you might expect, was weeping hysterically and little Jessica threw her arms around her mother and began to laugh hysterically," the chief said.

He added: "We think it will be a long time before they let go of one another."

The woman who brought her to the clinic for a checkup was taken into custody, police said. Pomeroy said it was too early to call her a suspect. He said they were still investigating the child's disappearance and whereabouts.

"Certainly no suspect has been clearly identified yet," he said.

Jessica had been at Echo Park west of downtown Los Angeles with her parents and brother Sunday night. Her parents, Rafael Cortez and Maria Hernandez, sell tacos from a stand across the street from the park.

The family discovered her missing about 7:30 p.m. Shortly afterward, witnesses told police they saw her walking with a man accompanied by a brown Chihuahua dog. Authorities said Tuesday night they were still looking for that man.

"We still have a suspect out there," FBI Special Agent Richard Garcia noted.

Police divers spent hours searching the park's murky lake as hundreds of officers canvassed the neighborhood. The city and FBI had offered a total of $45,000 in rewards.

Jim Mangia, executive director of St. John's Well Child Center - about seven miles from the park - said the woman who brought the girl to the clinic had refused to sign any forms. He said the girl was wearing shorts but no shoes and that her hair had been chopped short.

When the woman went to the bathroom, clinic staff questioned the girl, Mangia said.

"We went in and spoke to Jessica, asked her her name, she said it was Jessica - the woman had signed in a different name - and then we asked her if that woman was her mom and she said no," Mangia said.

AP-ES-08-13-02 2357EDT




Rick...
Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt."
-William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure