AURORA | A 10-year-old girl from Aurora was found safe in the Hoffman Heights neighborhood Tuesday after walking out of her north Aurora home early Monday morning.
A distant relative found Daniela Ruano-Morales shortly after noon on Tuesday near East Sixth Avenue and Peoria Street, according to a police statement. Police said Ruano-Morales was found “safe,” but did not provide details regarding her condition.
Police said Ruano-Morales, who is 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 65 pounds, told her family she was leaving their north Aurora home sometime before 10 a.m., Sept. 17. Family members then spent hours combing the neighborhood for the girl, who is Hispanic. After they were unable to locate her, the family contacted Aurora Police at about 4 p.m., according to Crystal McCoy, APD spokeswoman.
McCoy said Ruano-Morales’ family intentionally called her out of class at Fletcher Community School before she went missing yesterday.
Officers from the Aurora Police Department, the Denver office of the FBI and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office scoured a roughly 20-block area while searching for the young girl. Officials used bloodhounds and drones in their search, according to McCoy.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued a “Missing/Endangered Alert” for Ruano-Morales around 11 p.m. last night. At a press briefing early Tuesday morning, McCoy said the situation did not warrant an AMBER Alert as there was no evidence Ruano-Morales was abducted.