GREELEY, Colo. — A 30-year-old woman was arrested Monday evening after police say she was found with a 3-year-old who had been reported missing from a playground in Greeley.
Mariah Martinez faces charges of second-degree kidnapping and child abuse, according to a release from Greeley police. She was taken into custody without incident and is being held at the Weld County Jail, police said.
There is currently "no indication that Martinez and the child had any connection," a Greeley PD spokesperson told Denver7 in an email.
Police responded around 6:20 p.m. after the child's mother had reported the girl missing, saying she was last seen at the playground around the corner from their Bears Village apartment on 18th Street around 4:30 p.m. Monday, according to the release.
The missing child prompted a Reverse 911 alert in a five-mile radius, and police also used a drone, a K9, and other resources to try to find her, according to the release.
Around 7:15 p.m., neighbors reported seeing the girl walking with an adult woman in an alley near Cranford Place, police said. A K9 then positively identified the 3-year-old's scent in the alley.
"Multiple additional sightings were reported and officers blanketed the neighborhood," the release said.
The 3-year-old and the woman were found in the 1400 block of 15th Street — a little over a mile from the Bears Village apartments — around 7:45 p.m., police said.
The girl was "reunited with her family" after being taken to a local hospital for "a precautionary evaluation," police said.
Police are asking anyone with information or surveillance footage to contact Detective Collin Losasso at Collin.Losasso@greeleypd.com or Detective Brett Stone at Brett.Stone@greeleypd.com.
This is a developing story that may be updated.
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