8-year-old girl found safe hours after walking away from SW Atlanta park

An 8-year-old Clayton County girl who was reported missing Thursday night from a southwest Atlanta park has been found safe.

Imani Colvin was reunited with her mother Friday morning, more than 12 hours after she walked away from an adult caregiver at Perkerson Park. Her disappearance kicked off a massive overnight search involving helicopters, police dogs, and a large contingency of officers on foot and on horseback.

A search for Imani Colvin, 8, intensified Friday morning with a helicopter, mounted horses and Atlanta police recruits grid searching at Perkerson Park. 

Imani was last seen around 8 p.m. Thursday in the area of the park, which is located off Metropolitan Parkway, according to Atlanta police. Her brother told officers she left with a group of older girls.

After an initial search came up short early Friday morning, Baxter said they regrouped with fresh officers and went door-to-door with flyers in the rain, hoping someone recognized the girl. They thought she may have stayed the night with one of the older children.

Turns out, Baxter said, that’s exactly what happened.

Imani was found sleeping just before 9 a.m. Friday at a home about a half-mile from the park. The adults at that house had no clue police were looking for the little girl until they showed up at their door.

“They were kind of just as shocked as we were, but she was safe and she was sheltered and that’s the important thing,” he said.

Atlanta police set up a command post at Perkerson Park during the search for 8-year-old Imani Colvin. Her mother, seen in the far right, was on the scene.

Imani’s mother, Shamaria Colvin, said the girl was not familiar with the area. Even as the search entered its 13th hour, Colvin held out hope that Imani would wake up and realize her family was looking for her.

“It is traumatic,” she said. “I just want to tell my daughter that we love her, that we're here, and she's not in trouble.”