ST. LOUIS — A 2-year-old girl reported missing Wednesday morning, Aug. 12, 2026, from her home in the city’s Dutchtown neighborhood was found safe about 1:30 p.m., the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said.
Police said officers responded just before 8 a.m. to the 3800 block of Minnesota Avenue after the child’s mother reported waking up to find the front door open and the girl gone. The child was later found safe in the 3700 block of Michigan Avenue in the Gravois Park neighborhood.
The department first identified the girl as Janylah Hughley and later referred to her as Janyla in an update announcing she had been found.
According to police, the mother said she last saw the girl in bed at about 1:30 a.m. When the mother woke up shortly after 7:50 a.m., the child was missing, and the front door had been left open. Police said the girl is capable of opening the front door and has done so before.
A bystander saw the 2-year-old in the arms of an adult woman, according to Mitch McCoy, the police department’s director of public affairs. McCoy said the neighbor flagged down an FBI special agent who was already in the area as part of the search team.
“A short while ago a very vigilant person in the area saw the 2-year-old we had been searching for,” McCoy said. He said officers were able to respond quickly and that the child was safe and being evaluated by the St. Louis Fire Department.
McCoy said the child was “incredibly thirsty” after being found. Police quickly gave her food and water.
“The first thing the child did was ask for water,” McCoy said.
McCoy said police were told the child had wandered off and that a person had taken the 2-year-old with her. He said investigators were pursuing multiple avenues, including door-to-door searches and the use of technology to determine where the child might be.
McCoy said information led police to believe the girl may have been with an unhoused woman. He said detectives were interviewing the woman and that “she has a lot of questions that have to be answered.”
