Long Beach police on Saturday afternoon said they had safely located two girls who were reported missing on Friday.
The children, ages 9 and 13, had disappeared after a woman offered to help the mother take care of them. The girls were found with the woman Saturday in Lynwood after she contacted authorities.
The woman was being questioned and the mother had been arrested, police said.
The incident was initially reported Friday at 10:50 a.m., when Long Beach police were sent to a motel in the 800 block of East Pacific Coast Highway after being called about the missing children.
The mother, 33-year-old Diondria Cherie Davis, who recently relocated from Northern California, said a woman offered to help care for the girls on Wednesday night, but instead took them and disappeared.
A man who the mother knew and who lives at the motel vouched for the woman, telling the mother to let the woman take the kids.
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Officers conducted a search of the motel and the surrounding area, going door to door.
Just after 3 p.m. Saturday, Long Beach police spokeswoman Lisa Massacani said the girls had been found.
Deony Cherie Goodwin, 9, had last been seen wearing blue and green pajamas. Her sister, Sharron Cherie Bess, 13, had been reported wearing black gym shorts and an unknown color top.
The woman who took the kids was identified as “CC,” pictured in surveillance video at right.
After media reports about the missing sisters, "CC" contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Lynwood, where she was at the time -- with the two girls.
The woman is being questioned and it's not clear if she will be arrested.
Davis was arrested early Saturday morning for felony child endangerment. Her last known city of residence is Sacramento, police said.
The investigation is ongoing, and those with information are urged to contact Long Beach Police Department Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted tipsoft.com.
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