Search For Supposedly Missing 3-Year-Old Girl Is Called Off

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Authorities on Monday night called off the search for a 3-year-old girl who reportedly had wandered onto a Metro train after her father got off.

Los Angeles Police Department officers on patrol were flagged down around 7 p.m. by a male adult, saying that he couldn't find his daughter.

The girl was reportedly on the train with her father, who exited the train after it came to a stop at the Pico station. She then supposedly  got back onto the train, which departed and headed toward Downtown Los Angeles.

The hunt, however,  was called off after searchers came up empty and the man who claimed to be her father left the scene, authorities said.

Although authorities lost contact with the man, police searched Metro's Blue and Expo lines. When they could not find the allegedly missing girl, they called off the search, said Lt. Barry Shapiro of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"We don't know if this was a legitimate claim or not," Shapiro said.

The LAPD had set up a command post on Grand Avenue, south of Washington Boulevard. Cruisers were on patrol, using PA systems to ask if anyone may have seen the girl.

The department also used helicopters in the search.

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