Missing El Cerrito girl found, father arrested after nearly weeklong disappearance
Authorities found a missing 9-year-old El Cerrito girl and arrested her father early Sunday morning after a nearly week-long search for the pair, according to the El Cerrito Police Department.
The girl had been missing since Tuesday after her father, Dupree Gant, 39, refused to return the child to her biological mother following a visitation session, the El Cerrito Police Department said.
The father and child were found about 12:20 a.m. Sunday at a residence in the 3600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland police confirmed. Officers forced their way into the home after Gant refused to cooperate, police said.
Gant was taken into custody on suspicion of child abduction. Gant’s connection to the house in Oakland was not immediately clear Sunday morning.
The girl was placed into the care of child protective services workers. Further details about the girl’s condition were not immediately available.