Missing Los Angeles girl found alive

A woman is taken into custody at the Los Angeles clinic where Jessica Cortez was found Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Police found missing 4-year-old Jessica Cortez alive Tuesday evening, two days after she disappeared from a neighborhood park, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

She "appears to be OK," said officer Jason Lee.

The girl was brought into the St. John's Well Child Center, a non-profit health care clinic in Los Angeles, by a well-dressed woman with long hair, said Jim Mangia, executive director of the clinic. Lee said the woman has been detained for questioning.

The staff recognized the girl and called police, all the while trying to keep the woman and child from leaving.

"We were crying in joy and we were so relieved and thankful that we were able to save her life," Mangia said. "We're just crying from happiness. We're just so grateful that she came in here."

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn said Jessica was reunited with her mother at the clinic.

CNN NewsPass Video    •  Westerfield case enters sentence phase  MORE STORIES   •  Body of missing girl's father exhumed   •  More arrests in California boy's kidnap   •  Ricci's widow: Police had the wrong man   •  Smart's dad: More than one person took daughter  RESOURCES   •  Gallery: Technology to keep children safe   •  Safety experts offer tips   •  Facts: Missing children   •  Gallery: Recent missing youngster cases   •  AMBER Alert System  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  TIME.com: Keeping your children safe   •  National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

LAPD Interim Chief Martin Pomeroy said Jessica's curly brown hair had been cut and she was in different clothes than she was wearing when she disappeared on Sunday. She was slightly disheveled.

"She said that she didn't think she was pretty any more," but detectives quickly assured Jessica that was not the case, Pomeroy said.

"The mother, as you might expect, was weeping hysterically and little Jessica threw her arms around her mother and began to laugh hysterically, and then after a few minutes she also began to weep," he said.

"The child clung to the mother, continued to cling to the mother during our interview, and at last report was still holding on to her mother's hand."

Investigation just beginning

The unidentified woman who brought the girl to the clinic was later seen being led away by police in handcuffs.

"We're still trying to determine for certainty if that woman is a witness only or might be a suspect herself," said Pomeroy.

Pomeroy said investigators still are searching for the man, depicted on missing posters, whom witnesses reported seeing with Jessica before she disappeared.

"We are still looking for the suspect in the sketch with the understanding that the investigation may turn in a different direction tomorrow morning," he added.

The $45,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect still is in effect.

"This begins, really, the investigation. We want to make certain that whomever is the suspect that they never, ever do this to one of our children again," said Pomeroy. "We won't rest until that person is in custody."

Pomeroy thanked the community and the media for mobilizing to find the girl.

"I have to believe that the great effort that went into looking for Jessica, as reported by the media, had some influence on those who held her," he said. "They just didn't want to face what they knew was coming, so they turned her back."

The FBI is still on the case.

"We still have a suspect out there," said FBI agent Richard Garcia. "We still need your help, we still need your information, we still need you to call in."

Prayer vigil turns to celebration

Neighbors who had gathered at the park expecting to hold a prayer vigil later in the evening cheered, clapped, and whistled with joy when the news broke of Jessica's rescue.

Jessica, reunited with her father, smiles Tuesday night.

"Gracias, senor, gracias!" yelled one man to the police nearby. Another shouted, "All right, Jessica!"

Jessica had been at Echo Park with her family Sunday evening when her parents reported her missing. Police sent divers into the park's lake when the girl's 5-year-old brother said his sister may have fallen into the dark, murky water.

Though they had no evidence of an abduction, police canvassed the neighborhood and continued to search the area.

Late Monday, witnesses reported seeing a man taking Jessica out of the park, and police compiled a sketch based on the man's description.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles City lifeguards, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the FBI assisted police in the investigation.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Jose Perez said Jessica's family did not recognize a composite drawing of the initial male suspect, who was described as 20 to 25 years old, between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6-feet-tall, 160 to 180 pounds, wearing blue shorts and a white T-shirt, with a cross tattoo on his lower left leg and a dark complexion.

Perez said area residents said they had seen the man in the park on other occasions, sometimes with a Chihuahua dog. Pomeroy said more than 100 clues were being actively investigated and more than 300 officers were on the case.

After an initial sputter over how to classify the investigation, police activated the newly initiated "Amber Alert" system -- which proved successful in its first use last week, helping authorities locate two kidnapped teenage girls. The man who abducted them was shot to death by police officers.

During an "Amber Alert," California uses its emergency alert system to quickly distribute information on radio, television, the Internet and electronic traffic signs when a child under 18 is missing. Perez said traffic signs had not been activated in this case because there was no description of a vehicle.

The Amber Alert was created in response to the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, in 1996 and later killed.