KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A child found dirty and scared, wandering the streets at 4 a.m. has police possibly building a case against her mother.
The crying little girl, just 4 years old, was found early Friday near Blue Parkway and Lawn Avenue without any clothes.
Her father told FOX4 he’s broken by what happened to his little girl because he partly blames himself. He and the girl’s mother split up, and he said he worried about his daughter in her care.
But he’s grateful to the man who found his daughter and called police.
“I can’t imagine anyone not stopping,” Jason Givens said.
It was a decision that could have saved a child’s life. Driving to work early Friday morning, Givens saw something alarming.
“Saw a naked little girl coming down Lawn, headed toward the street — obviously, I stopped,” he said.
Givens said the child was not only naked but also dirty and in bad shape. He said a woman also stopped and gave the child a shirt to put on.
“She looked confused, and then when I got out of my car to talk to her, she started crying, upset, looking for her mother,” Givens said. “[She] said her mother just left her. I hope that’s not true.”
KCPD isn’t saying much about the details of this case, but sources tell FOX4 the child told investigators her mother “threw” or “tossed” her out of the car, possibly trying to throw the 4-year-old into the water at Brush Creek nearby.
“She looked like she’d been out here a little bit ’cause she’s kind of dirty and shivering,” Givens said.
Police took the little girl to a nearby hospital. Sources said she and her siblings are now in state custody.
“This will stick with me for the rest of my life because I have a child close to her age, so yeah, this is the kind of thing that gives you nightmares,” Givens said.
Sources said the mother has been questioned by police, but KCPD is not saying whether or not she’s in custody.