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Peabody Daycare Shut Down After Toddler Wanders Away

PEABODY (CBS) – A daycare in Peabody is shut down after police say a toddler wandered out a door Friday morning and was found in the middle of the street.

Police say the two-year-old girl had just been dropped off at Watch-A-Tot on Lowell Street when she somehow opened the door and walked out.

A woman spotted the girl and stopped her car.

"I slammed on my brakes and I walked up to her slowly because I didn't want to startle her and I said 'Hi how are you doing' and she started crying," the woman said.

Peabody Day care
Watch-A-Tot daycare center in Peabody (Image: Mike LaCrosse/WBZ)

The woman grabbed her and brought her over to the gas station where the owner quickly called 911.

"She felt comfortable after she was like very sacred," said Anton Idanjian, who gave the little girl a toy and comforted her until police could figure out why she was all alone. "As soon as she saw her mother she started crying, she was very young, she was beautiful."

The girl was not injured.

There was no response at the daycare when WBZ knocked on the door. The daycare is shut down pending an investigation by the state.

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