Man describes finding child wandering alone in Hollywood
A man who discovered a toddler wandering alone in Hollywood on Wednesday morning is speaking out about the moment he found the child and helped reunite him with his family.
Jose Gonzalez was returning home when he spotted the child standing alone on the corner of South 19th Avenue.
"I see the baby crying. I got out of the car and asked him what happened," Gonzalez said.
Unable to locate the child's family, he called 911.
"I'm a father too," he said.
Child reunited with family
When Hollywood police arrived, they shared the child's picture on social media. Shortly after, a family member called authorities and the boy was reunited with his mother.
Oscar Mercado, who lives next door to the child's parents and says he is a cousin of the boy's father, explained what happened.
He said the toddler's father had left for work while the child was still asleep. His mother then left the house to run an errand. During her absence, the boy woke up, opened the front door and wandered outside. When the mother returned and found her child missing, Mercado said she burst into tears.
Child protective investigators were called to the home. After speaking with the mother for several minutes, they left without taking further action.
Gonzalez said he was relieved to have found the child before anything bad happened.
"I was just doing what any parent would do-helping a lost child find his way home," he said.
