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Girl abducted from Pa. school found in park unharmed

Nelson Mandela Myers (seen with his son and wife) called police after finding an abducted child in a playground.DAVID MAIALETTI/PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS/AP

PHILADELPHIA — A passerby found an abducted 5-year-old girl huddled beneath a playground slide in the pre-dawn cold Tuesday, nearly 20 hours after a stranger claiming to be her mother signed her out of her Philadelphia elementary school under the guise of taking her to breakfast.

Nelson Mandela Myers said he found the freezing girl barefoot, wearing only a damp adult-sized T-shirt. He was drawn to the park in Upper Darby by her cries for help.

‘‘She was just mainly shivering and saying that she was cold,’’ he said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Myers, 27, wrapped her in his jacket and called police from his cellphone. ‘‘I’m just glad I was there at the right time.’’

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The girl was taken Monday morning from the William C. Bryant School, in West Philadelphia. Authorities released surveillance video showing a woman wearing a full-length, black Muslim garment, her face covered by a black veil, taking the girl out of the school.

After being discovered Tuesday, the girl was taken to the hospital to be checked out, but police said she did not appear to be hurt. Captain John Darby of the Philadelphia Police Department said officials are screening the girl to determine whether she may have been sexually assaulted.

‘‘There were no overt signs of physical injuries to the child,’’ Darby said at a news conference, adding that police have had only preliminary interviews with the girl. ‘‘We have a fragile victim here.’’

According to Darby, she told her rescuer: ‘‘I’ve been stolen.’’

District officials said school policy was not followed in releasing the girl into her abductor’s custody.

The girl’s mother had appeared on local media Monday night, tearfully pleading for her safe return, and explaining how she also wears the traditional chador and niqab.

The Associated Press is not naming her because it generally doesn’t identify potential victims of sexual assault.

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Darby said the suspect went into the school Monday a short time after the girl’s mother had dropped her off there. The woman signed in with a hall monitor — using an illegible signature — and then went straight to the girl’s classroom. ‘‘She indicated that she was the child’s mother,’’ Darby said.

Associated Press