Toddler Found Alone At Busy Intersection Reunited With Mother
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Three-year-old Mikey is back home with his mom Thursday night.
The toddler was found wandering near a busy street in Brooklyn Park early Thursday morning.
A home surveillance camera caught Mikey running down 84th Avenue in Brooklyn Park wearing only a diaper.
"I run away," Mikey said.
In the video, he runs towards busy West Broadway, where a woman pulls over to help.
She called police, and they carried him through the neighborhood, trying to find his parents.
"I left my mommy," Mikey said. "I found a police officer."
Mikey's mother, Marilyn Gudvangen, said she left for work at 7:30 a.m. Around 11 a.m. she received a text from her boyfriend making sure she dropped Mikey off at her mother's. That's when they discovered the miscommunication.
"It went from being a normal day at work to completely losing it," Gudvangen said. "I had no idea what was going on. The way down here [I was] trying not to speed, trying not to completely lose it."
She called police, and they connected the dots.
Gudvangen said Mikey usually goes back to sleep after she leaves for work. This day was different.
"He didn't want me to go to work, so apparently he tried to sneak out the door and follow me to work," she said.
Now they're making sure Mikey can't get out any of the doors.
Gudvangen is grateful for her neighbor who spotted Mikey and got him to safety.
"If it wasn't for her, I couldn't even imagine what could have happened to him," she said.
Gudvangen said she realizes this is an age where kids want to explore.
She said detectives talked to her about communication within the house, and double-checking all doors and locks.
She plans to repeatedly talk with Mikey about what happened, and explain that he should never leave without an adult.
