Public helped police find missing Santa Rosa girl

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- A school scare in the North Bay Wednesday after a 10-year-old girl disappeared from an elementary school campus in Santa Rosa. Authorities quickly found the girl, but now there are questions about the girl's reasons for leaving school.

Victoria Valdez is a fifth grader at Steele Lane Elementary School. She went missing for more than two hours after leaving class to go to the bathroom.

Her teacher alerted school administrators when she didn't return in a timely manner. When a search of the school yielded nothing, they notified Santa Rosa police.

More than a dozen officers with the help of the Sonoma County Sheriff's helicopter searched for the missing 10-year-old. They fanned out to nearby neighborhoods and businesses, and the homes of relatives, to make sure a family member did not abduct her. Nothing panned out until they activated their reverse 911 system.

"We can call residents and businesses in the neighborhood to alert them of the missing juvenile, and we also used our social media sites to alert the public that monitors our social media sites or subscribes to it, about the missing juvenile," said Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Eric Goldschlag.

They found Victoria about four miles away from the school, walking alone. Several residents had called police about possible sightings and at least one got it right. The officer at the scene positively identified her and discovered that she walked out of school on her own. She was reunited with her grandmother and other family members.

Her motive for suddenly leaving school is still unclear, but a police dispatcher said over the radio that the girl told investigators that kids were mean to her. Assistant School Superintendent Jason Lea says bullying is not a big issue in the district.

"We do the best we can, and we really are proactive in this district to make sure we are working with parents and families to make our school safe," said Lea.

Police tell us they are providing social advocates to help her work through whatever concerns she may have.