KEY POINTS:
Police are investigating how the family of a young girl found alone on an Auckland street failed to noticed that she was missing for seven hours yesterday.
The girl, who is believed to be about 2 years old, was found by police at 8.15am running along Line Rd in Glen Innes. Detective Steve Meade said a female staff member saw the barefooted child from the window of the Glen Innes police station.
She told officers who went out to investigate.
They found the girl dressed only in blue pyjama bottoms and a white singlet and took her back to the station after failing to find her parents.
Mr Meade said the little girl - who was clean and tidy and looked as if she had "just got out of bed" - was too young to tell anyone her name or where she lived.
Police suspected she lived nearby but it took seven hours before anyone noticed that she was missing.
Throughout the day she was looked after by Child Youth and Family
while police hunted for her parents.
All the local police stations were contacted to see if there had been any reports of a missing toddler but there were none.
Police then extended their search at midday, going public with calls for anyone who knew the girl's identity to call them immediately.
At 3pm the parents finally called and were reunited with their daughter.
Few details were available last night about how the girl came to be out on her own or what her parents were doing throughout the day.
Police spokeswoman Ana-Mari Gates-Bowey said police were talking to the family yesterday afternoon about the circumstances of her disappearance.
