Woman Charged WIth Neglect When Child Found Wandering Streets - FOX 42: Omaha News, Sports and Weather; kptm.com |

Meghan McRoberts

OMAHA (KPTM)-

An Omaha woman is cited for child neglect when police say her 1 ½- year- old daughter was found wandering the streets with no shoes and no coat in a south Omaha neighborhood.

Police say 20- year-old Courtney Etherington left her daughter in the care of her 6 and 11-year old sisters, while she was cleaning her room. The girls were found riding their bikes outside.

One neighbor, Sam Lang, helped the little girl find her way home.

Lang says she had company over, and someone mentioned they saw a young girl near their car.

"There was a little girl by her car, and we didn't believe her so we went looking," said Lang. "This tiny little girl with no shoes and no coat comes running across the street. I pick her up and she can't tell us where she lives or where her mom is, and she's not even 2-years old," Lang continued.

Lang and several others went knocking on doors in the neighborhood, but no one recognized the girl.

After an hour and a half with no luck, they called police.

After police canvassed the area, they found the girl's home across a busy street a block away. Police say the mom didn't even realize she had been missing for more than an hour.

"I Just don't understand how you can have this tiny child and not know where she is for 2 hours," said Lang. "I have a daughter the same age and it's terrifying because I can't go 5 minutes without knowing where she is in the house."

The girl was reunited with her mother.

Lang says it serves as a reminder of how quickly kids can wander off. She will not risking the chance of taking her eyes off her little girl, and not having her safely return home.