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Detectives Continue To Investigate Case Of Missing Northridge Girl

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — Detectives Thursday continued to investigate a case regarding the kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl who was taken from her San Fernando Valley home.

Around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, the girl was discovered to be missing when her mom checked on her after hearing commotion in the family's Northridge home.

After nearly 12 hours, with the help of an unidentified man, the girl was found wandering around a Starbucks parking lot barefoot.

"We were all concerned, but it's good she's back," said neighbor Vincent Etemadi, a father of three who lives on the same street where the young girl was kidnapped.

"It's really alarming because it doesn't happen around here, and I mean, there is a daycare across the street," he said.

The victim was found with cuts and bruises on her head and body.

After a preliminary interview, the girl told officers she was dropped off by two suspects at Kaiser Hospital near De Soto and Burbank when she walked to the Starbucks store.

She told police one of the suspects was a Caucasian male, about 18 years old. There was no suspect description for his male accomplice, police said.

"We believe she was transported in several different vehicles. One of the vehicles she described was a black pickup truck," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said. "We have a black pickup truck. We're processing that vehicle right now. We can't say definitively if it was vehicle that was involved but we're looking at it right now."

Officials investigated several locations Wednesday night including a storage facility at Mason and Nordhoff and a vacant house on the street behind the girl's home.

After hours of searching the house, police ruled it out from the investigation because of a key detail the victim told detectives.

"We're doing everything we can. We're pulling out all the stops to get to the bottom of this and to get these two individuals into custody," Smith said.

The LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division, who has the lead on the investigation, is being assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other detectives throughout the city.

Officials request anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division 24-hour TIP line at (213)486-6890.

RELATED STORIES:

Police: Formerly Missing 10-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped By 2 Suspects

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