Amber alert update: missing girl safe with parents after unexpected turn of events

August 06, 2018 | by Junie Sihlangu

Last Thursday, an Amber Alert was issued when JinJing Ma was last seen at 8:15 p.m. with a tour group. The FBI's Human Trafficking Task Force investigated all leads.

However, it’s now been reported that the little girl was found safe and sound with her parents. She was found in Queens, New York.

Last Thursday, JinJing Ma, 12, from China was last seen at Reagan National Airport before she was supposed to travel to the Bay Area with her school group. At the time, she had separated from her group after telling them she needed the bathroom.

Next thing, she was seen with a woman who had given her a change of clothes. The pair left in a white Infiniti SUV and it appeared as though Ma got into the vehicle willingly.

#AMBERAlert SAFELY #RECOVERED!

12-year-old JinJing Ma missing from @reagan_airport in Arlington, #Virgina has been found safe!

Thank you for sharing her poster, without your help we wouldn't be able to bring you this fantastic news! pic.twitter.com/hxIfqSvB45
— NCMEC (@MissingKids) August 3, 2018

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Police Chief David Huchler said at the time, “The vehicle had New York license plates, and they believe that Ma was taken to New York.”

The woman was also said to have met up with an unknown man at the New York airport. Ma was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black jacket.

‘12-year-old JinJing Ma missing from @reagan_airport in Arlington, #Virgina has been found safe!’

NCMEC, Twitter, August 3, 2018

However, on Friday Ma was found in New York City in the custody of her parents. The airport authority said the girl was found safe in the borough of Queens.

A legal counselor for Ma's parents Anna Demichik revealed that the girl had not abducted. Her parents were the man and woman she was seen being picked up by at the airport.

BREAKING NEWS: JinJing Ma, missing 12-year-old Chinese girl, ‘found safe,’ officials say https://t.co/UrDTbnla5a pic.twitter.com/sJoaQmIRxs
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 3, 2018

The counselor said the parents have met with FBI investigators and that the investigation was ongoing. Ma’s parents have been living in the US for two years.

Thank you. I tried so hard to help. So happy to hear this news. God bless each of you.
— MeasuredRisk (@MeasuredRisk) August 3, 2018

Great news. Thanks God.
— Randy Wells (@aaaawells) August 3, 2018

They currently live in the New York City area and hadn't seen their daughter in at least two years. Ma has been living with relatives in China throughout those years.

COMING UP AT 10: We hear from the lawyer of the family at the center of the Amber Alert for the 12-year-old Chinese girl that made national headlines. JinJing Ma was taken from @Reagan_Airport to NYC by her parents, who live in Queens. pic.twitter.com/9Szu0rCO55
— Cori Coffin (@CoriCoffin) August 4, 2018

She is in the US on a visa issued for a tour group trip she was traveling with. There is no immediate rush to send her back to China, according to Demichik.

The girl will remain with her parents.