SEPTA Bus Driver Finds Little Girl Alone, Outside In The Rain
By Justin Finch and Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A SEPTA bus driver found a four-year-old girl outside in the rain overnight by herself next to a bus stop.
SEPTA bus driver Harlan Jenifer says he couldn't believe what he saw as he sat behind the wheel of his Route 56 bus at Torresdale and Magee Avenues in Tacony just before 3 a.m.
A four-year-old little girl, wet and shivering, coming through the door of his bus after being spotted by a passenger.
Jenifer says he immediately cared for the little girl, sheltering her and calling police. It all comes naturally to Jenifer, a 16-year veteran driver and father of three, including two daughters.
The little girl, Annabelle, cheerfully told passengers she was on her way to a local store to buy, in her words, "a slushy".
Officers quickly responded, reuniting Annabelle with her mom and dad a few blocks away.
Her parents say the trip, although short, was frightening, the little girl crossing streets including busy Torresdale Avenue.
Annabelle's mother, Jaclyn says she would like to hug Jenifer for, in her words, "saving my daughter's life."
Annabelle's parents say it the first time their daughter, who slipped out a back door, has ever left the house on her own.
And, as they installed new locks, in between kissing and hugging their daughter, they promise it won't happen again.