Missing California 17-month-old Girl Found by University of Kentucky Police

By Samantha Tata NBCLA

Credit: University of Kentucky

Missing California 17-month-old Girl Found by University of Kentucky Police

December 29, 2012 Updated Dec 29, 2012 at 10:59 AM PDT

When officers saw a toddler wearing nothing but a short-sleeved onesie as she was being pushed in a stroller on a windy, frigid night in Kentucky, they had a "gut feeling" that something was wrong, according to the University of Kentucky Police Chief Joe Monroe.

That hunch led to the discovery of a 17-month-old girl who was reported abducted from Los Angeles, possibly by a family member, on Oct. 15.

A woman who police believe is the girl’s grandmother was taking the toddler – without shoes, gloves, a hat or anything to protect her face – on a stroll through the University of Kentucky campus Thursday night, when the temperature had dropped to 29 degrees and the wind was blowing about 5 mph, Monroe told NBCLA.

Campus police officers Jennifer Ockerman and Emily Smith spotted Maria Baltierra-Dejesus, 62, pushing Alouette Day-Moreno-Baltierra in a stroller through a campus parking lot.

A resident of New York, Baltierra-Dejesus was booked on suspicion of endangering the welfare of a minor and custodial interference. She was receiving medical treatment Friday night, though Monroe could not divulge why.

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