Aurea Rosa

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A 7-year-old girl abducted from a supervised visit in New Jersey was found safe in Philadelphia after an intense 12-hour, multi-state search, authorities said.

Police said Aurea Rosa, of North Arlington, who had previously lost her parental rights, tricked a Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P) worker during a supervised visit on Friday, Oct. 10, claiming she was going to do laundry in the basement before fleeing out a back door with the child.

Officers were called to the scene around 5 p.m. and immediately began a coordinated search, notifying surrounding jurisdictions and deploying K9 units, drones, and thermal imaging, according to North Arlington Police Lt. David Hudak.

Investigators later discovered a receipt for a prepaid cellphone purchased days before the abduction, which led them to a Newark taxi driver who said Rosa had stopped in Harrison to retrieve a hidden suitcase before heading to Pennsylvania, Hudak said.

Working with Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, TSA, Border Patrol, NJ Transit Police, and multiple regional departments, officers tracked Rosa and the child to Emmaus, PA, where witnesses at a Wawa and McDonald’s reported seeing them. Rosa allegedly paid a McDonald’s employee to use their Uber account to avoid detection, authorities said.

Officers from Philadelphia Police, the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office ultimately found Rosa and safely recovered the child near Race Street in Philadelphia, police said.

"We got a lot of lucky breaks on that to get her," Hudak said.

From the time of the initial call to the recovery, the entire operation took less than 12 hours, authorities said.

The child was reunited with her father and is safe. Rosa was taken into custody by Philadelphia Police and charged with interference with custody (3rd degree) under a warrant from the North Arlington Police Department.

“It was inspiring to see everyone working diligently to locate this child safely,” Hudak said. “A child holds a special place in all of our hearts, and this investigation proves just how deeply that commitment runs among the officers and agencies who came together for her safe return.”