Girl reported missing found with mother Officers...

Girl reported missing found with mother

Officers in a police helicopter were announcing over the streets

of Costa Mesa on Sunday their search for an 11-year-old girl reported

missing by her father and later found safe with her mother.

The father reported the girl missing after morning services ended

at 11:25 a.m. at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, in the 100

block of East Bay Street in Costa Mesa, Police Sgt. Larry Hicks said.

The father took his daughter to their vehicle and went back inside

the church to help with something, Hicks said. When the father

returned after 15 minutes, his daughter was nowhere to be found, the

officer said.

The search for the missing girl ended at 1:10 p.m. when the mother

returned home and heard messages that were left by the police about

the missing child. The mother contacted the police and reported that

the daughter had been with her the entire time while she had been

running errands, Hicks said.

The police helicopter and five officers were involved in the

search for the missing girl, Hicks said. The police geared up for the

worst-case scenario, he said.