13-year-old Herriman girl found

POSTED: 11:20 AM MST Jan 10, 2013    UPDATED: 10:12 AM MST Jan 11, 2013 
Brooklyn Gittins
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -

Police say a 13-year-old girl who disappeared this week without shoes or a coat in the chilly Salt Lake City area has been found unharmed.

Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said Brooklyn Gittins telephoned her grandmother late Thursday night from a Wal-Mart store in South Jordan. The woman then contacted police and officers found the child. Hoyal said she is not injured, even though she had no shoes or coat.

Hoyal said authorities suspect that she was picked up and harbored by one or more people, and police are trying to find out who they are.

He didn't say if the girl told authorities anything about how she spent the past two days.

She disappeared Tuesday evening, causing widespread concern. A major snowstorm Thursday prompted some 1,000 volunteers to join police in searching 17 square miles in the area near Gittins' home in Herriman.

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