MIAMI – Family members were overcome with emotion outside Miami police headquarters Tuesday night after finding out that 11-year-old Jayla Jones had been found safe.
While Jayla is back home, police continue to investigate where she went and why.
Jayla was found at a park off NE 62nd Street and North Miami Avenue, just a few blocks away from her family’s apartment, where she had been last seen Monday morning.
Kim Myers, who found Jayla, said she was going out to staple printouts in an effort to help search for the girl when she saw her.
Surveillance video obtained by Local 10 News shows Jayla leaving the apartment complex around 8:30 Monday morning.
Her mother said her daughter had offered to take out the trash and never came back.
But after she was found Tuesday, Jayla told detectives she left the home after getting into a fight with her mother and grandmother.
They say Jayla was found in good condition and was checked out by fire rescue, but only as a precaution.
At this point, it’s still unclear where Jayla ran off to, or where she spent the night Monday.
Police are still trying to figure that out, but Jayla’s family is grateful to have her back home.
“Thank you. You all didn’t give up,” Jayla’s great aunt Doris Jones said. “I thank God for you all.”