Late Wednesday evening Los Angeles patrol cops out searching for a missing 13-year-old girl spotted her riding in a car near Glenoaks Boulevard and Oro Grande in Sylmar.
A female passenger in the front seat of a vehicle near that location looked at the officers and then quickly ducked down in her seat, trying to conceal herself, police said.
The officers thought it was odd, and possibly Karina based on her physical description. They conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and determined that it was Karina in the passenger seat. She has been brought to Mission Station, along with the driver of the vehicle, a male Hispanic 20-years of age.
A news release noted "detectives will be conducting interviews and continuing their investigation, but Karina appears to be well and will be reunited with her family shortly. It is unknown at this time what, if anything, the driver will be charged with."
Earlier today the family of Karina Valencia and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) asked for public assistance in locating Karina, who had been missing since Saturday.
"On August 14, 2010 at around 6:30 p.m., Karina was last seen at a friend’s birthday party in the 14800 block of Polk Street in LAPD’s Mission Area. She has not had contact with her family since that time and there is great concern for her welfare. It is possible that Karina met an unknown male on the popular website, MySpace, and left to meet up with him."
