Missing Brooklyn siblings found safe in Midtown Manhattan
BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A 12-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother were found safe after they were reported missing in Brooklyn when they didn't return home from a food program across the street.
Lala Washington and Andrew Hillard were found at a Starbucks on 325 West 49th Street in Midtown Manhattan early Thursday evening.
They were taken to a hospital for observation, and their mother was notified.
Police said Thursday that the children were last seen Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. when they left their home on Amboy Street but never returned.
Two Starbucks employees said they got to work and saw the kids sleeping on a bench inside the store at about 4 p.m.
While one of the employees went over to wake them up, the other employee did a Google search for missing children, saw their picture and called the police.
It still remains unclear where they went or what happened to them.
The last person who had seen them was the man who runs that food program.
He said the pair often shows up for breakfast and lunch and they sit down inside. However, he said when they showed up for breakfast on Wednesday, they stood outside and they haven't been heard from since.
Their distraught mother, Kimberly Washington, pleaded for help to get her babies home safe.
"Andrew and Lala, if you can get away from wherever you're at, you know how to travel, come home to mommy, I'm waiting for you all," she said. "I'm not leaving here until you all come home."
She says they had never gone missing before and running away is not in their character.
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