Gabe Botello, a Villa Pizza employee, recounts how he stumbled upon a young girl alone in the cold while in the middle of a delivery around 3 a.m. He delivered the food to his customers, and then immediately went back to look for the girl. After driving around and searching parking lots, he eventually found her at a factory across the street. She was only wearing a t-shirt, diaper, and socks and was curled up between two cement blocks. Botello gave her his sweatshirt and some water before calling 911. He stayed with her, rubbing her back and comforting her until help arrived, as she was exhausted and cold.
The police reunited the 3-year-old girl with her mother, who was unaware that her daughter had gone missing and believed she was sleeping. Although it remains unclear how the toddler got out and for how long, the Grand Rapids Police Department suspects that it was an accident.
Botello feels grateful that he was in the right place at the right time to rescue the little girl. “Sometimes, you want to ignore things, but you never know who you might be saving,” he said. “Anyone could have picked up that little girl. The intersection of Ionia and Wealthy is not the safest part of Grand Rapids, and there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic over there, so I’m just happy she made it home. I’m glad she’s safe.”