Toddler Safe After Walking Away From Peabody Daycare Center

PEABODY, MA — A Peabody woman is being credited for bring a two-year-old girl to safety after the toddler wandered away from a daycare center on Lowell Street in Peabody Friday. Joann Cronin was driving on Lowell Street around 8 a.m. Friday when she saw the girl, who had walked away from the Watch a Tot daycare center. Cronin got the girl to safety and called Peabody Police.

"All of a sudden, I’m just going along, and I just see this little girl in the middle of the street," Cronin told Channel 7 News, which first reported this story. "I just went up to her, and I said, 'How are you,' and she was crying. Still, no one came looking for her. I had been there for 20 minutes. Poor little thing. And her poor parents suffered a lot, thinking she’s going to be watched over. I’m thankful she’s OK. That’s all that matters."

Police said the daycare center did not realize the girl was missing for at least 25 minutes. The daycare center has been shut down while the Department of Children and Families conducts an investigation.

For more on this story, see Channel 7 News.