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At 3a.m. on Sunday, Gabe Botello was working, making a pizza delivery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when he passed what looked like a very young girl who seemed to be alone in the cold. The father of seven rushed to make his delivery and then went back to where he saw the girl to look for her. She wasn’t where he initially saw her, but he was determined to find her and get her to safety, so he continued searching around downtown parking lots.
Botello eventually found the toddler curled up between cement blocks behind a factory, cold and crying, wearing nothing but a t-shirt, diaper, and socks. He wrapped the little girl up in his hoodie and called 911 before taking her to his warm car. "I had some water in my car, so she was drinking some water and I was just kind of like rubbing her back, letting her know she was okay and she started falling asleep," he recalls. "She was … exhausted and cold."
Police were able to find the toddler’s mother, who thought the three-year-old was asleep in her bed and didn’t even know the child had gotten out of the house. It’s unknown how long the child was out in the cold, but police believe her getting out was accidental and Botello agrees. He hopes the parents aren’t too hard on themselves. "I don't think it was anything purposeful, nobody just lets a little kid out. It's just sad," he says. "I just tried to do what I could. I assume somebody would do the same for my kids."
Source: Cafe Mom