Angeles City, Pampanga. INQUIRER FILES
ANGELES CITY — A 5-year-old girl, who was abducted on March 17 in Balibago village in this city was found in Quezon City and was reunited with her family on Thursday, March 21.
In a Facebook post, the girl’s cousin announced that they had found the missing girl in Quezon City.
“She was found by the kind Mrs. Janette Panaligan and her husband. Apparently, she was brought by her abductor to Novaliches and was made to beg for money and food. Fortunately, a family member recognized her and brought her to the authorities,” the cousin said in a post around 11 a.m. on Thursday.
READ: Missing girl found dead in Quezon
In an earlier Facebook post, the cousin said that her mother had been taking care of the toddler since she was an infant.
She described her little cousin as different from other children, whose daily routine included watching YouTube videos in her room.
“[She] is a very special kid, but she’s not exactly like other children. Maybe that’s why she did not cry, as seen in the CCTV footage, when she was picked up (by her abductor) because she was also confused about what was happening to her,” she said.
In the short security camera footage taken near their residence in Balibago village here, the young girl was seen being carried by a man around 9:30 a.m. on March 17.
On March 19, after the Facebook post showing the appeal for help and the CCTV footage went viral, this city’s mayor, Carmelo Lazatin Jr., directed the police to find the girl within 72 hours.
The city police posted the photo of the child on its Facebook page on the same day, asking the public to help locate her and giving a hotline number for this purpose.
The girl’s family offered a P20,000 reward for any information that would help find her.
Her family thanked everyone who helped, including netizens who shared social media posts about the missing girl.
The day the girl was abducted, her mother went to Manila, and her young cousin was left in the care of her grandmother.
“After throwing out the trash and watering the garden, I returned to the room, but she was gone,” the cousin said.
It was the first time for the girl to go out of the gate by herself. She followed a dog on the road until the still-unidentified man picked her up and carried her.