8-Year-Old Brockton Girl Found Safe After 16-Hour Search
BROCKTON (CBS) - An 8-year-old girl who had been missing for about 16 hours was found safe in Brockton Tuesday afternoon. Massachusetts State Police said Grace was located "unharmed" after a desperate search for her in Brockton that also included the FBI.
A family friend said she called police after discovering that Grace had spent the night on her porch.
At a news conference late Tuesday morning, Brockton Police Chief Emanuel Gomes said Grace had an argument with her mother Monday evening at their home on Ames Street. About a half-hour later, around 8 p.m., her mother noticed she was missing and called police.
Gomes said Grace was "upset and wandered off on her own." She was seen on surveillance video from a nearby home heading westbound on Ames Street.
Officers searched the area overnight and through Tuesday morning. She was found safe just after noon.
Family friend Devonna Buffalo was among the people who spent much of Monday night searching for Grace.
Tuesday morning, Buffalo said she discovered that Grace had spent the night on her porch.
Buffalo said she gave Grace some food, talked to her for some time trying to get her to calm down, then called police.
"I was extremely worried that she might have gotten kidnapped or worse. I'm just glad she decided to come here and she was safe," said Buffalo. "Although she was a little chilled this morning, she was unharmed."
She knows Grace and is friends with her mother. "I was out searching for her, I was calling people, trying to figure out where she was, where they thought she might be."
