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Day care leaves child at Charlotte park, officials say

By Jim Bradley
By Jim Bradley

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 3-year-old girl was found wandering alone Monday afternoon in a county park after her day care center apparently left without her, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.

The incident happened at Nevin Community Park off Statesville Avenue in north Charlotte.

A woman told police she first noticed the girl when she came to play with the woman’s grandchildren.

The girl wasn’t with an adult, she said.

The woman said she saw a day care group later leave the park without the girl.

The woman became concerned and called 911.

"Her face was red when we got there, so I don't know how long she had already been there,” the woman, who did not want to be identified, said. “She was just running around playing. My concern was there was no one with her. I thought, ‘This isn't right.’”

Police came to the park along with the child's parents and someone from the day care, she said. 
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department sources identified the day care as A Home Just Like Home, located on Pawtuckett Road.

No one answered the door there when Eyewitness News attempted to get an explanation for what happened.  
A man parked in the driveway also refused to comment.

Many parents were shocked that a child could be left behind.

“Being an educator, we always do a count of how many children we have before we leave, when we get where we’re going, and when we’re getting ready to leave and when we get back,” school teacher Timmirian Williams said.

The day care is licensed by the state of North Carolina and has had a number of minor violations found during inspections, but it has not been disciplined.

State regulators are now aware of the incident and are considering their next steps.

The child’s parents told Eyewitness News their daughter is fine, but declined to make any other comment on what happened.

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