MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Hours after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert on Friday, detectives reported finding two girls, ages 12 and 13, who had vanished on Monday in south Miami-Dade County.
According to Detective Lee Cowart, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, detectives found the girls unharmed at a friend’s house. Belinda Wright, one of the girl’s grandmother, said she was overjoyed to learn detectives found her.
“I want to thank the community for coming together,” Wright said about the many volunteers who helped to search for the girls for about five days. “I feel very wonderful because a lot of kids don’t make it back.”
Rep. Kevin Chambliss, who has an 11-year-old daughter, released a statement on Friday afternoon saying volunteers in Miami-Dade’s Naranja neighborhood had been “frantically” searching for them, and members of the West Perrine Community Builders Association had been distributing flyers with their pictures.
FDLE canceled the statewide Amber Alert about 11:10 p.m.
Local 10 News’ Assignment Desk Editor Emily Hales contributed to this report.