ST. GEORGE — An Enoch girl reported missing in August was found safe and has been reunited with her father.
Ariana Bozeman, who was 10 at the time she went missing, was found Wednesday morning with her noncustodial mother in Florida, Enoch City Police Sgt. Isaac Askeroth said.
Ariana was reported missing Aug. 11 after authorities say her mother, 34-year-old Dawn Marie Closson, fled the state of Utah in violation of a civil court order issued in 5th District Court in Cedar City granting sole custody of the girl to her father.
When Closson allegedly failed to turn her daughter over to her father, an Iron County judge issued an emergency order for police to pick up the girl. At the time, Closson was believed to have taken Ariana to Nevada.
Earlier this week, Askeroth said a tip led authorities to Closson and her daughter in Columbia County, Florida.
“A concerned woman in Florida had seen the family and decided something didn’t feel right,” Askeroth told Cedar City News.
The woman reportedly went online and found news reports about Ariana’s disappearance.
“She called us and gave us some information that we had not had,” Askeroth said. “From that, I was able to get a really close location and I called the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department out there, and they were able to locate them within about a half hour of receiving that phone call.”
“Columbia Sheriff’s Department reports that she was in good health and appeared OK,” Askeroth said, referring to Ariana.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, Ariana and her mother were living out of a car when they were found. The girl has since been reunited with her father, who lives in Oklahoma.
Closson was arrested on a warrant issued by 5th District Court in Iron County last year for third-degree felony custodial interference. She is currently incarcerated at the Columbia County jail.
“She will most likely be extradited back to Utah, but that’s still in the court process,” Askeroth said.
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