New London — When the man found her, the 2-year-old's fingertips and toes were hurting from the cold.

“We looked outside, we saw this man holding this little girl who only had on a pair of underwear and T-shirt,” said Kasy Daignault, who was working at Shaw's Cove Deli on Hamilton Street Friday morning when a man walked in with a little girl wrapped in his coat.

The child had scratches all over her and was crying, Daignault said. She was grasping a sippy cup and calling for her mother.

“He said, 'Do you know who she is? Do you know who she belongs to?' And that's when we were like, 'Oh, God,' ” Daignault said.

New London police arrested the girl's mother following a two-hour search in which police canvassed the neighborhood, knocking on doors and showing people a Polaroid photo of the girl.

New London Police Capt. William Dittman said two men spotted the girl walking alone near Shaw and Hamilton streets about 8:30 a.m. in temperatures that had dipped into the teens. One of the men brought her into the deli, where three women took care of her and dressed her in warm clothing until police arrived with an ambulance.

“Everybody we could spare was sent down there to try to locate a parent,” Dittman said.

Daignault rode with the girl in the ambulance. Police said they believe the girl walked more than 80 yards on her own and was outside for about 20 minutes.

“We didn't know her name. We didn't know anything,” Daignault said. “ ... The saddest part is, her name is Precious, and we couldn't understand. She was trying to tell us.”

Dittman said police knocked on every door they could, walking house-to-house on Shaw Street and up neighboring side streets. One woman finally saw the picture and recognized the girl, Dittman said, pointing to a house at 159 Shaw St. that police had already visited. They had gotten no answer.

Officers returned to the house and rapped loudly on the door until somebody finally woke up and came to the door, Dittman said.

The girl's mother was not in the house, but a woman there contacted the mother by phone. When the mother returned, police arrested her.

Dittman said the mother claimed she had gotten up to take her son to school in the morning and had awakened another woman in the apartment and asked her to watch the 2-year-old.

Dittman said the woman's story and the mother's story didn't match up.

The mother, Tracey Spencer, who told police she lives at 94 Blinman St., was charged with risk of injury to a minor. She was held on $25,000 bond and is expected to appear in court next week. A resident at 94 Blinman St. said Friday that Spencer does not live there.

The woman on Shaw Street questioned by police was at home Friday but refused to comment. Another resident who answered the door said Spencer was just staying overnight and did not live there.

Dittman said the child was treated at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital and released in good health to the custody of the state Department of Children and Families. Agency officials were looking for a family member Friday to care for the child.

Kelly Anthony, spokesman for L&M, said in cases of neglect or abuse of children, hospital workers keep the child under their protection until DCF officials arrive and the child can be safely transferred into their care.

Gary Kleeblatt, spokesman for DCF, said he could not say where the child would be housed, only that the agency would ensure that she received proper care.

“We're very lucky that those two men stopped,” Dittman said.

j.wernau@theday.com

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