BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A 7-year-old girl who was reported missing in east Bakersfield told authorities she ran away after her grandmother dragged her from a car and across the ground.<\/p>\n
She had scratches and what appeared to be burns on her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatalie, she dragged me,\u201d the child said when asked what happened, according to court documents. \u201cShe dragged me out of the car. And I scratched my face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNatalie\u201d is Natalie Sandoval, her grandmother. Both she and Mercedes Duran, the child\u2019s mother, have been charged with felony child abuse.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s alleged Sandoval abused the girl, and Duran knew and did nothing about it.<\/p>\n
They have pleaded not guilty. Their next court hearing was not listed on the Superior Court website Tuesday.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 28, deputies were called to Horace Mann Elementary School and spoke with Sandoval. She told them she left her granddaughter in her car while she went inside and spoke with a friend.<\/p>\n
When she returned, the girl was gone, she said according to the documents.<\/p>\n
Ninety minutes passed from the time Sandoval said she noticed the girl missing to when she called 911. She said she panicked and had been looking for the girl with Duran, whom she called for help.<\/p>\n
Surveillance video captured the child running through the school\u2019s parking lot.<\/p>\n
Deputies later learned the girl had been picked up by a woman who became concerned after seeing the child walking alone. The woman told deputies the child had seemed scared.<\/p>\n
The woman said the child gave her directions to a relative\u2019s house, and she saw the child greet the relative and go inside.<\/p>\n
That relative called deputies and said the girl had numerous injuries.<\/p>\n
When interviewed by deputies, the child said Sandoval had dragged her from the car, and had hit her on her back earlier in the day, according to the documents. Deputies found bruises on her back.<\/p>\n
The child said Sandoval also hit her on prior occasions, documents said. Sandoval and Duran were arrested, and charges were filed in September.<\/p>\n
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