A 4-year-old girl who was reported missing days after her mother suffered an apparent breakdown and handed her over to another woman was found unharmed in the Bronx Friday, police said.
Police officers discovered the child, Katalina Rios, in good health at a home on 144th Street belonging to the woman who has been caring for her for several days, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters Friday.
Katalina’s rescue came nearly a week after she was last seen with her mother around 8:40 p.m. on June 23 at The Marcel at Gramercy hotel on East 24th Street, which has been serving as a homeless shelter.
Katalina Rios, 4, was reported missing Thursday, nearly a week after she was last seen with her mother in Manhattan on June 23. dcpi“[The mother] was outside the hotel, apparently suffering physically or mentally, where she says, ‘I can’t take this no more,’ handed that child off to somebody she just knew as Apples, and she left,” Essig said.
The mother later checked herself into Lincoln Hospital, where she told staff she missed her daughter, sources familiar with the investigation told The Post.
Katalina’s mother clamed to have handed the child over to another woman outside a government building she could not name. dcpiKatalina’s biological father, who lives in Newburgh, learned of what happened and reported his daughter as missing to the police Thursday.
Investigators looked up the woman named Apples on social media and found an address for her in the Bronx, leading to Katalina’s successful recovery, police said.
Katalina was then taken to a hospital to be evaluated, but Essig said there is nothing at this time to indicate that she had been physically or sexually abused.
Katalina’s last known sighting was at The Marcel at Gramercy hotel, which is currently housing homeless people. Google MapsThe Post learned that the girl will later be reunited with her father and her paternal grandmother.
The 4-year-old’s mother is currently being treated at a hospital for an unspecified condition. So far, she is not facing any charges.


