QUEENS — A 3-year-old girl who was abducted by her mother after being treated at a Jamaica hospital on Wednesday afternoon was found Friday at a Bronx shelter, police and sources said.
Candice Crump, 41, was charged with custodial interference after she took her daughter Latifa, who she does not have legal custody of, officials said. The two had last been seen together at Jamaica Hospital at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 after a fight that led to the arrest of the girl's father, according to police.
Crump also had her 4-month-old son Jaedn with her in the shelter, police said. However she does have custody of the boy, sources said, despite previous reports that she did not.
► READ MORE: City Waited to Issue Abduction Alert Because It Didn't Have Girl's Photo
Both children were taken to an area hospital for an evaluation, police and sources said.
On Dec. 14 Crump and Latifa's father, Ricky Jones, had a fight at the Lexington Inn, located at 138-05 Jamaica Ave., where Crump had rented a room for one night, according to the criminal complaint and police sources.
During the altercation, Jones, 46, pulled Latifa from her mother's arms and swung his hand at Crump, hitting both her and their daughter, court records said.
He was arrested after the incident and charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.
Latifa wasn't reported missing until 5:15 a.m. on Dec. 15, when Jones' girlfriend called police to say Latifa and her mother hadn't returned from the hospital.
It took the NYPD and the city's Office of Emergency Management nearly 10 hours to alert the public about the missing girl — and her brother who was also considered missing at the time — because OEM said that it did not have a photo of Latifa that was needed for the alert.
The agency eventually sent out a tweet about the missing children around 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
Missing Child Alert: Latifah Crump, F/B/3, 3' tall & 75lbs, from QN. Photo: https://t.co/FsDkEiK7mZ. If seen, call 911.
— NYCEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) December 15, 2016
The New York State Police did not send an Amber alert — used to quickly alert people about active searches for missing children — in this case, officials said.
