Girl, 8, found buried alive in US rubbish dump

A police officer found a missing eight-year-old girl buried under rocks inside a rubbish bin, authorities in the US said today.

The officer said today he feared the worst, but then “the expression on everybody’s face just changed” when rescuers realised she was alive.

The girl, who had been staying overnight at her godmother’s house, was reported missing early yesterday. She was hospitalised in good condition today and a teenage boy who also had been staying at the home was arrested. Authorities said he confessed.

Yesterday, police Sergeant Mike Hall was scouring the landfill for the missing girl when he looked inside the rubbish bin and saw a yellow recycling container. He opened the lid and saw a foot and a hand.

He said he summoned a fellow officer “and he shouted out, you know: ’Her finger is moving!’ And at that point, the expression on everybody’s face just changed. I mean, it went from a hopeless scene to: there’s hope there now.”

“For her to endure what she did and live for more than seven hours in the recycling bin says a lot for her,” Hall said.

In the hospital, the girl told Taylor: “I was laying there waiting. I knew you were coming,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Authorities said the weight of the rubble would have made it impossible for her to dig her way out, and she was far enough from any homes that no-one may have heard if she cried out.

“When a child is abducted and abandoned like this, the critical thing is time,” Police Chief William Smith said. “That we found this child alive is a miracle.”

The girl had been sexually assaulted, authorities said.

Milagro Cunningham, 17, was charged with attempted murder, sexual battery on a child under 12, and false imprisonment of a victim under 13 years old, police said. A court appearance was scheduled for today.

The teenager initially told investigators that the girl may have been abducted by several men in a station wagon. He said he followed them but they got away.

However, he later confessed and was charged as an adult, authorities said.

Authorities said Cunningham was identified by the girl and had lived at godmother Lisa Taylor’s house for about four months. The girl spends occasional weekends with Taylor when her mother works.

Cunningham had been sleeping on the living room couch after being thrown out by his aunt, a neighbour, for allegedly stealing from her home. He has a relatively minor criminal record and was on probation for throwing a rock through a car window, authorities said.

Taylor was asleep when the girl vanished. The girl’s disappearance was discovered when Taylor’s two teenage daughters came home after a night of roller-skating, authorities said.

Half an hour later, Cunningham knocked on the door and the sisters found him with his shirt torn and his clothes covered with dirt. He told of the girl being taken away in a station wagon.