Published: May 09, 2008 02:38 am            

MISSING CHILD: Newfane girl found; suspect accused of child endangerment

A little girl is safe tonight, and the man police sought in connection with her disappearance has been arraigned on a child endangerment charge.

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Department canceled a missing child alert after a Newfane girl was found Thursday afternoon.

Two-year-old Giana Lynn Bootes was found about 3 p.m. Thursday in a motel in the Town of Tonawanda. Bootes was unhurt and has been reunited with her family, police said.

The girl had been last seen at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Depew with her mother’s boyfriend, David Figueroa-Oehler, 33, of Newfane.

The sheriff’s department issued a missing child alert about 2 p.m. after Figueroa-Oehler did not return home with the child.

Figueroa-Oehler had reportedly taken Bootes out with him on an errand Wednesday afternoon. When they were not home by Thursday morning, Bootes was reported missing.

Chief Deputy James Voutour said Figueroa-Oehler had taken the child out on many occasions before, but this time was different.

“The suspect here is someone that mom trusted,” he said. “It appears on this occasion, he felt the need to stay out all night and not call (the mom).”

As law enforcement officials searched for Figueroa and Bootes, the child’s mother and biological father began searching the West Side of Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda for the mother’s purple 1999 Plymouth Voyager, which Figueroa had been driving.

Figueroa-Oehler was reportedly known to frequent that area.

Bootes’ parents spotted the van parked outside the Super 8 motel on Sheridan Drive in the Town of Tonawanda. They immediately called the sheriff’s department.

“We asked them not to approach, to stand by,” Voutour said.

The Town of Tonawanda Police Department responded to the scene, along with Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Mack.

They found Figueroa-Oehler in a motel room with two adult women, Voutour said.

It’s unclear what the three adults were doing in the motel room. Investigators brought Figueroa-Oehler in for questioning.

Figueroa-Oehler was arraigned Thursday evening at Newfane Town Court on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

He was held in lieu of $500 bail and is due again in court May 22.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.

        

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