8-year-old girl reported missing from Logan found safe
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - The search is over for an 8-year-old girl reported missing from Logan.
Residents of North Darien Street say it was after 1 a.m. Monday morning when a man took a look outside before heading to bed. He saw--sitting out front, soaking wet--8-year-old Yazmin Manning.
"She knew she was safe here that's why she came back here where there was safety," neighbor Jessica Gonzalez said.
Neighbors say the child--who once lived on this block with her father now in jail--came here because it's where her dad's friend lived.
Police say the girl walked away from her Warnock Street foster home around 8 p.m. Sunday night after arguing with other children inside.
"I think the biggest question is--and I can't answer it--is how she got from here to there because that's a trek," Philadelphia Police Captain Sekou Kinnebrew said.
The 8-year-old who says she walked would have had to cross the treacherous Roosevelt Blvd.
One North Darien resident says the child claims she was struck by other kids in the foster home.
"They were bickering and fighting and stuff like that--hitting her--she didn't feel comfortable so she left," neighbor Anna Gomez said.
According to a source in city government and land records, the Warnock property is a city foster home.
"Are you? What happened last night?" FOX 29's Jeff Cole asked. The foster parent shut the door when FOX 29 knocked.
Yazmin Manning says the parent wasn't home when she left Sunday night. A source tells FOX 29 the foster parent tells police she was and quickly called officers when she heard the door slam.
The 8-year-old girl is one of 5,800 city children living in foster care.
"Walking alone at night an 8-year-old anything could have happened to her," Gonzalez said.
Police say Manning left the home in August and returned home on her own. A source at the city government says the foster parent is considered a good one, but they will likely take another look.