3 minute read
SEE RUNAWAY
July 29, 2021 The Glendale tar
Glendale’s Community Weekly Since 1978
The Glendale Star is a circulation weekly published every Thursday.
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RUNAWAY FROM PAGE 1 was around lunchtime when Malia said she was going to take out the trash.
After about 10 minutes, Slocum wondered why Malia hadn’t returned. She started talking to friends and neighbors. No one saw her leave.
Malia is a multiracial 14-year-old girl with brown hair and hazel eyes. Slocum said Malia had dreams of being a veterinarian. She loved singing, dancing and coloring and was always involved in extracurricular activities. Malia was going to try out for the school’s basketball team and took part in a YMCA Health Group. Slocum said Malia was placed into foster care at a young age and was separated from her siblings and placed in Slocum’s care.
Because of that trauma and stress on Malia, Slocum got Malia involved and active to keep her mind busy.
“She has ADHD and some other, like, attachment issues because, you know, being 8 years old and being ripped away from your mother and foster home for two years,” Slocum said.
“She felt different because she had to take medicine for ADHD and just wanted to feel like a normal kid.”
Slocum said Malia, like many kids with parents who have an addiction or criminal background, gets a Superman complex, where they believe they can save that parent or help them get better, placing a lot of stress on themselves to be the best they can. Now, Slocum races to her car when she gets tips and sightings of Malia anywhere in the Valley in hopes that she can bring her daughter home.
“I will walk through a brick wall on fi re for her,” she said.
“When I talk about her, I get happy, I get sad, I get emotional. I just miss my daughter.”
Malia would be a freshman in high school this year. Slocum said she just wants her daughter found safe and brought home so they can get her life back on track to making her dreams come true.
Malia Bradford was placed in foster care and separated from her siblings at a young age, leading to some attachment issues. (Submitted photos)
“I just want her to know she is loved more than she could ever imagine and that we all miss her,” Slocum said.
“I’ve been there since she was 1, and I’ll be there forever. I just want her to know that she deserves better than to be out there living on the street.”
