Girl, 3, abandoned at The Grove shopping center, reunited with father

FAIRFAX DISTRICT, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A 3-year-old girl who was abandoned in the valet parking area of The Grove Saturday has been reunited with her father.

Los Angeles police Lt. Jay Mastick said a female family member dropped off Audrey with a car seat at the shopping center for a photo opportunity with the father. The father went to The Grove, but thought the family member had taken Audrey back home and left.

"They didn't connect by cell phone or anything like that. It would've been kind of the expected way to facilitate that exchange," Mastick said.

Parking attendants told police a woman dropped the girl off at the valet parking area around 6 p.m. Saturday. When no one arrived to pick her up, the attendants notified police.

Police checked the parking lot's surveillance cameras for video of her parents, but the footage was not clear.

The Department of Children and Family Services is investigating.