It was a chilly winter evening when Officer Gábor Tóth received the call. A young girl, no older than six, had been found alone in the local park. She was sitting on a swing, gently swaying back and forth, her small hands gripping the chains tightly. When a concerned passerby approached her and asked if she was lost, the girl simply replied, “Mommy will come for me later.”
As the sun set and the air grew colder, no one came for her. That’s when the police were called.
When Gábor arrived at the scene, the girl was still on the swing, her little legs dangling, barely touching the ground beneath her. She wore a pink jacket, her hair tied into two small braids, and she clutched a worn-out stuffed bear tightly. She didn’t seem scared or anxious—just… waiting.
“Hi there, sweetheart,” Gábor said gently, kneeling to meet her at eye level. “I’m Gábor. What’s your name?”
The girl looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Lili,” she answered softly. “I’m waiting for Mommy.”
Gábor smiled, trying to reassure her. “Hi, Lili. Do you know where Mommy is right now?”
“She said she’d come for me later,” Lili replied simply. “I have to wait here for her.”
A chill ran down Gábor’s spine. It was almost completely dark, and the park was empty except for a few scattered leaves drifting in the wind. “How long have you been waiting here, Lili?” he asked.
The little girl thought for a moment, her tiny forehead wrinkling. “Since this afternoon,” she finally said. “Mommy had to go somewhere.”
Gábor’s heart sank. She had been waiting for hours. “Lili, do you know Mommy’s phone number? Or where you live?”
Lili shook her head. “No, but Mommy said she’d come.”
Gábor nodded, trying to hide his concern. “Okay, Lili. How about you come with me to the police station? We can wait for Mommy there. It’s getting cold out here.”
Lili agreed, letting Gábor take her hand and lead her to the patrol car, still clutching her stuffed bear. On the way, Gábor radioed his colleagues, who immediately began checking missing persons reports, but nothing matched Lili’s description.
At the station, they gave her a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, trying to make her feel at home. But every time they asked about her mother, Lili gave the same answer: “Mommy will come for me later.” It was as if she was repeating a rehearsed line, and it worried Gábor more and more.
As the hours passed, Gábor and his colleagues did everything they could. They checked records, called nearby hospitals, and reached out to surrounding precincts, but no one was looking for Lili. It was as if she had appeared out of thin air.
Then, around 9:00 PM, a call came in. A woman’s body had been found in a car parked behind an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Gábor’s heart stopped for a moment when he heard the description. The car matched one that had been seen near the park earlier.
He grabbed his coat and rushed to the scene. On the way, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was about to unfold. When he arrived, the area was already cordoned off, with officers illuminating the scene with floodlights. The car was an old sedan, its windows fogged, and the air felt heavy.
Inside the car, they found the body of a woman slumped over the steering wheel. There was no identification on her, but one detail caught Gábor’s attention. On the passenger seat was a small pink backpack decorated with daisies. He didn’t need to open it to know it belonged to Lili.
Gábor tried to piece it together. Was this woman Lili’s mother? If so, what had happened to her? And why had she left her daughter alone in the park?
As the investigators continued their work, they found a crumpled note in one of the car’s side pockets. The handwriting was rushed, but the message was clear:
“To whoever finds this: Please take care of my daughter. I’m sorry.”
Gábor’s throat tightened as he read the note. It was obvious that this woman, whoever she was, had hoped someone would find Lili and take care of her. But why? What had driven her to such a desperate act?
Back at the station, Gábor didn’t know how to tell Lili the truth. How could he explain that her mother would never come for her, that she was gone forever? He sat down beside her, and the little girl looked up at him with trusting, innocent eyes.
“Lili,” he said softly, “we found Mommy’s car. I need to ask you a few more questions, okay?”
Lili nodded, still clutching her stuffed bear. “Is Mommy coming now?” she asked.
Gábor’s heart broke. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he couldn’t tell her the whole truth. “We’re trying to find her,” he said gently. “Do you remember if anyone else was with Mommy today?”
Lili thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, it was just me and Mommy. She said we were going to a new place.”
Gábor’s breath caught. “A new place? Did she say where?”
Lili nodded, smiling. “She said we were going somewhere I’d have lots of new friends. But I had to wait for the right time.”
Gábor shuddered at her words. He knew now what her mother had planned. She had taken Lili to the park, hoping someone would find her before it was too late, ensuring her daughter would be safe before she ended her own life.
Further investigation revealed that Lili’s mother had been going through an incredibly difficult time—she was struggling with debt, had lost her home, and was battling mental health issues. She had tried to hold on, but it had all become too much. In the end, she felt this was the only way out.
Lili was placed in the care of child services, and Gábor made sure to check in on her regularly. The little girl remained strong, always holding onto her stuffed bear, hoping her mother would return. Gábor knew that hope would fade with time, but for now, he let her hold onto it—it was all she had left.
A few months later, Gábor received a letter at the station. It was from Lili’s adoptive family. They wrote about how she was adjusting, how she was slowly making friends, just as her mother had hoped. At the end of the letter was a drawing—a picture of Lili holding hands with a smiling woman, and beside them, a police officer in uniform. Above the picture, in shaky, childlike letters, it read: “Thank you for finding me.”
Gábor held the letter in his hands and, for the first time in a long while, allowed himself to cry.
