Police said the girl's father told her to wait there until he came back.
A 5-year-old girl who was reportedly abandoned at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal told police where she lived, and that's where they made a tragic discovery.
An officer approached the crying girl Monday morning after commuters told authorities she had been alone for an extended period of time. The child reportedly told them her father had instructed her to wait there until he returned – but he never did.
The girl then told authorities she lived in Connecticut, and when they arrived at her home, they found the child’s mother dead in a third floor apartment, police said.
The girl’s father, and woman’s husband, Elmer Gomez Ruono, 32, was caught on surveillance at the station with his daughter, and police are now looking for him.
Lt. Tom Barcello told the Stamford Advocate that Ruono is a person of interest and that police are considering it a murder investigation.
Although the identity of the child’s mother was not released, it was reported that she was a Guatemalan native in her 30s who had just moved to the apartment with her daughter and Ruono from New Jersey days ago.
Capt. Richard Conklin also told the paper there was some sort of celebration happening at the residence on Sunday night but early Monday, it became a crime scene.
According to police, there were signs of a struggle near the body but the cause of death has not been determined.
Read: 'Hot Car Dad' Found Guilty of Murder After Leaving 22-Month-Old Son in SUV for 7 Hours
“We know very, very little because they only moved here within the last day or two from New Jersey,” Conklin said. “We are struggling to come up to speed on this very rapidly.”
Guono is described as 5-foot-8 and about 140 pounds. He has long black hair, with a medium build and medium complexion, police said.
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