By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Residents were alerted early Wednesday morning by a reverse 911 call and text message that a 3-year-old child was found near Bank of America on Innes Street.

The Salisbury Police Department said the child — whose first name is Naomi, according to the alert message — unlatched the front door of her family’s home and wandered out. She was being watched by her father while the mother worked the night shift at a local agency.

Two women, Kaylana Hill and Lorraine McLain, were walking in the neighborhood about 2:30 a.m. when they found the child in the middle of West Innes Street near the bank. Hill called 911.

Police Capt. Melonie Thompson said officials used reverse 911 within a half-mile radius with no response, then extended the alert zone to one mile. The child pointed in the direction of where she lived but could not tell police her last name or address.

Thompson said she recalled meeting the mother while at the agency and asked officers to check to see if she was working. The child was taken to the Police Department, where the mother picked her up.

Thompson said the father had put the child to bed and went to sleep himself. Neither of the parents knew the child could unlatch the door, she said.

The Rowan County Department of Social Services was called, but no charges are expected, officials said.

The child was not injured, Thompson said.