Missing 12-year-old found in custody of her parents, airport authority says
A 12-year-old Chinese national who police had said was abducted at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was found Friday in New York City in the custody of her parents, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement. The girl, JinJing Ma, was found safe in the borough of Queens, according to the airport authority.
Anna Demichik, a legal counselor for JinJing Ma's parents, told CBS News that the girl was not abducted and that her parents, not strangers, picked her up at the airport. Demichik said the parents have met with FBI investigators and that the investigation is ongoing.
The parents have been living in the United States for two years, according to Demichik. They currently live in the New York City area and hadn't seen their daughter in at least two years. She had been living with relatives in China during that time.
Since the girl is in the U.S. on a visa issued for a tour group trip she was traveling with, there is no immediate rush to send her back to China, according to Demichik. She will be staying here in New York with the parents.
The girl was visiting the U.S. from China. Police issued an Amber Alert after she separated from her tour group. Police said the group was getting ready to depart for the West Coast after sightseeing in Washington and New York, and that before going through security, she girl told her group she needed to use the restroom.
"She is believed to have left the airport with an unknown middle-aged Asian female," Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police chief David Huchler had said. "That Asian female is described as 5'2" to 5'5", weighing 130 pounds."
Huchler had said the person who was with the girl had helped her change clothes before the pair exited the airport's Terminal C through the arrivals level. That's when they got into a white Infiniti SUV with New York license plates before driving off, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford reported.
Huchler later said, "We are grateful that JinJing is safe and with family."
"Our goal was to locate her to ensure she was safe and unharmed, and we accomplished that goal."
