BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A 7-year-old girl who was reported missing in east Bakersfield told authorities she ran away after her grandmother dragged her from a car and across the ground.
She had scratches and what appeared to be burns on her face.
“Natalie, she dragged me,” the child said when asked what happened, according to court documents. “She dragged me out of the car. And I scratched my face.”
“Natalie” is Natalie Sandoval, her grandmother. Both she and Mercedes Duran, the child’s mother, have been charged with felony child abuse.
It’s alleged Sandoval abused the girl, and Duran knew and did nothing about it.
They have pleaded not guilty. Their next court hearing was not listed on the Superior Court website Tuesday.
On Aug. 28, deputies were called to Horace Mann Elementary School and spoke with Sandoval. She told them she left her granddaughter in her car while she went inside and spoke with a friend.
When she returned, the girl was gone, she said according to the documents.
Ninety minutes passed from the time Sandoval said she noticed the girl missing to when she called 911. She said she panicked and had been looking for the girl with Duran, whom she called for help.
Surveillance video captured the child running through the school’s parking lot.
Deputies later learned the girl had been picked up by a woman who became concerned after seeing the child walking alone. The woman told deputies the child had seemed scared.
The woman said the child gave her directions to a relative’s house, and she saw the child greet the relative and go inside.
That relative called deputies and said the girl had numerous injuries.
When interviewed by deputies, the child said Sandoval had dragged her from the car, and had hit her on her back earlier in the day, according to the documents. Deputies found bruises on her back.
The child said Sandoval also hit her on prior occasions, documents said. Sandoval and Duran were arrested, and charges were filed in September.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
