Oct 30, 5:54 PM EDT

Migrant girl rescued from Ariz. desert

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- U.S. Border Patrol agents say they have rescued a 12-year-old Guatemalan girl who had been left behind in the southern Arizona desert by a smuggler.

Supervisory agent Esmeralda Marroquin says the girl was with her mother, several other migrants and a smuggler crossing the desert about 40 miles southwest of Tucson near Arivaca on Wednesday evening. The mother hurt her leg and couldn't keep up with the group.

Marroquin says the mother asked the smuggler to leave her daughter with her but the smuggler refused. Agents found the mother overnight and began searching for the daughter.

Searchers found the girl alone in the desert at about 8 a.m. on Thursday about two miles from where her mother was found. The smuggler and the other migrants were not located.

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