Missing girl found after mother’s death

A 3-year-old girl was found huddled in the bushes across town 10 hours after she was reported missing.

At about 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Winslow Police officers found her mother dead.

Lt. James Sepi said the Winslow Police Department received a call shortly before finding the woman, which reported a missing child.

The caller also said she believed the child’s mother was passed out in her trailer at Freddie’s Mobile Home park, located at 1 Transcon Lane.

When deputies arrived, they found her mother deceased. Her name will be released once next of kin is notified. The cause of death is pending autopsy results.

A search consisting of WPD officers, Navajo County Sheriff’s officers, a canine unit from Arizona Department of Corrections and volunteers searched the mobile home park thoroughly and found nothing. Native Air Ambulance searched from the sky with no findings.

At 3:44 a.m. Sunday morning, WPD received an anonymous call reporting "the ‘thing’ you are looking for is at the west end of town..."

Officers began to search that area, but once again found nothing.

At 6:44 a.m., 10 hours since she was reported missing, Ben Irwin called to report he had found a child.

Irwin, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe employee, had found the child huddled in the bushes wearing only a diaper and a pair of pink shoes by the tracks on the west end of town.

She was unharmed and was taken to Winslow Memorial Hospital for a check-up as a precaution.

She was turned over to Child Protective Services with her older brother (11-years-old) who was looking for her and reported her missing to a neighbor.

WPD is continuing to look into how she made her way across town.

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