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“My Mistake” Family Lets Homeless Woman Sleep on Couch, Wakes Up to Find 2-Year-Old Missing | Marina Noriega
What happens when an act of kindness toward a stranger turns into an Amber Alert hours later?
At around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 21, 2026, the parents of 2-year-old Kehlani Marie Rogers woke up at their home in Avondale, Arizona, and realized their daughter was missing.
Kehlani had last been seen tucked into bed at around 11:30 p.m. the night before wearing purple pajamas covered in multicolored smiley faces. Also missing from the home was a woman the family knew only as Marina, who had been sleeping on their living room couch.
Kehlani’s parents searched their house and the surrounding neighborhood for about three hours before calling police at around 8:00 a.m.
Avondale Police Department Public Information Officer Jaret Redfearn said officers immediately began an emergency investigation, bringing in the Child Abduction Response Team, or CART, and the FBI to help find Kehlani.
But there was one problem … Kehlani’s parents didn’t know the full name of the woman who had been staying in their home; they only knew her as Marina.
