Austrian police return child who wandered around Salzburg to shocked family

VIENNA – Perhaps she was out looking for Santa.

A 3-year-old American girl wandered away from her family's hotel in Salzburg, Austria, around midnight Christmas Eve and investigated the city streets on her own, wearing only a nightshirt and socks.

A receptionist at another hotel brought her inside. Police guessed she was a tourist but had to scour local hotels for an hour before identifying the likely family.

Awakened by phone, the girl's grandmother and mother were startled to find her missing. Police said in a news release she apparently managed to open the hotel room door herself.

The grandmother and mother picked the small night wanderer up at 1 a.m. at the police station, where she was sleeping peacefully on a sofa.