Baby left inside North Philadelphia day care: "Nobody even knew where she was at"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Philadelphia family is demanding answers after they claim their daughter's day care forgot all about her. Workers at New Arisens Childcare Solutions in Feltonville locked up Thursday and left a 6-month-old girl inside the building alone.
"Did somebody take her? Did they take her to a police district, or is my baby dead," Cameron Banks said.
Banks was in a frenzy after going to the North Philadelphia day care to pick up his 6-month-old daughter Amora around 5:30 p.m. Thursday only to find the day care was closed and locked.
The day care, located on Whitaker Avenue near Hurley Street, is supposed to be open until 6 p.m. A Philadelphia Police spokesperson said preliminary information indicated that the center did not close until 6 p.m.
Banks called every number he could think of to track down any information.
"I tried calling multiple different places," Banks said. "They have another location, and I was getting voicemail. Nobody even knew where she was at."
Banks then called 911.
"Something was telling me that she's in here, she's in here," Banks said.
Police met with the building's key holder to get inside. As they attempted to unlock the grate, it jammed and left the police to rely on firefighters to cut through the metal bars only to remove it entirely.
"Police were able to get into the day care center," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "It was dark. When they got inside, they found the 6-month-old baby girl in the corner asleep in a car seat."
"They walked in and out pretty fast," Banks said. "So I thought they were coming to tell us bad news. But then, they actually told us she was inside and she was OK. Happy. There was a whole bunch of crying. Just happy."
Banks said he was looking forward to her day at day care. Workers were supposed to take photos on Thursday.
"Today was the day of picture day," Banks said. "She had on her first Valentine's Day onesie, her little heart tutu. It was just a relief to see that she was OK."
Banks said he's thankful for the officers and the firefighters.
Police said the father and several employees were taken to the Special Victims Unit for questioning.
CBS News Philadelphia called New Arisens to find out how this could happen. They hung up on us.
The Whitaker location was closed Friday. CBS News Philadelphia went to the Tackawanna Street location for answers. They called through the door's intercom. The person who answered declined to comment or let us inside.
CBS News Philadelphia is also waiting to hear from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to see if there were any previous complaints filed about New Arisens.
