The mother of a three-year-old girl found wandering alone in Vancouver's roughest neighbourhood intentionally left the tot at home by herself, police said Friday.
The Vancouver Police Department launched an exhaustive door-to-door search in the city's Downtown Eastside Thursday night after the Asian girl was seen walking by herself into the road in the 100-block of Pender Street, an area the heart of Vancouver's Chinatown with close proximity to drug activity.
The girl spent the night in the care of B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development and the VPD handed over the case to its Missing Person's section after officers came up empty-handed an exhausted overnight neighbourhood search.
Police say the youngster, who was hugging a cloth doll, appeared well cared for, but she could not give her name.
At 8:30 a.m. Friday police said the girl's mother had been found near their family apartment on Pender Street.
At a press conference, Const. Jana McGuinness told reporters the mother had gone out for the evening and left the girl at home by herself.
"This is a situation where a child is left unattended," she said.
Investigators say the mother returned home at 6 a.m. and became concerned when she realized her daughter wasn't home.
"She thought the little girl may have wandered to a friend's house in the building but we know that's not the case," McGuinness said.
The mother went outside to search for the girl and was met soon after by investigators from the Vancouver Police Department canvassing the area. She accompanied the officers to the Ministry of Children and Family Development to be reunited with her little one.
It is still not known where the mother was.
"Further interviews are going to occur to determine her activities overnight and discuss the obvious safety concerns about leaving a young child unattended," McGuinness said.
A Cantonese-speaking neighbour at the woman's apartment building told CTV News he saw the little girl alone before 10 p.m. Thursday and called the mother on her cell phone to ask her to return home. He then went to bed.
The man said the woman had lived in the building for the last three years and, as far as he knows, there have been no major problems.
However, another couple in the building said the woman had a gambling problem and had left her child on her own in the past. The couple said the child would sometimes come over to their apartment and tell them her mother had gone gambling.
Vancouver police said officers visited the family apartment after the girl was found and said it appeared she was well cared for and comes from a good family.
Police have not said if the girl's mother will face any criminal charges. The investigation has been turned over to the provincial ministry, who has launched its own investigation.
