Cops find missing Michigan girl and mom in Florida
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A 7-year-old Michigan girl and her mother missing since Tuesday have been found, Fox 2 Detroit reported Friday.
Sapphire Elizabeth Palmer and her 30-year-old mother, Amanda Hayward, were located Thursday in Florida, the station reported, citing Michigan State Police.
The mother and daughter were last seen in Michigan’s Livingston County around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Cops found Hayward’s purse holding cash and credit cards a few miles away. They found her car Wednesday in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
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The two were found safe in Homosassa, a Florida town near Tampa, Fox 2 reported.
“Sapphire has been taken into protective custody by Florida Child Protective Services pursuant to a court order,” the Hamburg, Mich., Police Department said on Facebook.
During the search, police said Sapphire and Hayward were believed to be in the company of a convicted sex offender named Douglas Stanko, the Livingston Daily reported.
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He was not with them when they were found, Hamburg police said.
The Amber alert also had warned that Hayward was paranoid, delusional and possibly armed with a gun she had recently purchased, the paper reported.