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Girl, 4, found in Alexandria Taco Bell parking lot in freezing cold

A 4-year-old girl is safe after she was found wandering around an Alexandria, Virginia, shopping center parking lot in below freezing temperatures early Friday.

Alexandria police told WTOP two people passing by the Taco Bell in the Van Dorn Plaza around 4 a.m. saw the girl, who was wearing a sweatshirt and pants but no winter coat, in the parking lot alone.

They immediately put her in their car and drove to the police station.

Around 6 a.m. the child’s mother called police and the two have been reunited.

The city’s Child Welfare & Child Protective Services department is investigating the incident.

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